Q:
Whenever I have trouble my friend tells me to have bitachon in Hashem. How could I have bitachon if I’m not a tzaddik?
A:
And the answer is you don’t have to be a tzaddik to have bitachon. Because bitachon is the most common sense thing there is. It’s not righteousness; it’s understanding.
First of all, if you understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in charge of the world. That’s fundamental. You don’t have to be a tzaddik to understand that.
Secondly, who knows better what’s good for you? Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows.
Thirdly, what are Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s intentions? His intentions are ורחמיו על כל מעשיו – He has mercy on everybody (Tehillim 145:9). He has good intentions to everybody.
Now, if Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in charge of everything and if Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s intentions are only good and if Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the One who can do things and nobody else, so why does it pay for a person to worry when he can’t do anything and he’s not obligated to do anything? Just he should sit and worry? It’s foolishness. So you don’t have to be a tzaddik to have bitachon. All you have to be is a person with a little bit of seichel.
So therefore when your friend said to you ‘Have bitachon in Hashem,’ she’s saying that you should use your common sense.
Now in case you’re too weak in bitachon, you don’t have seichel, at least the following you can think, at least this much. And it’s a very pashute approach: Look back on your career. See how many times you were worried about some impending disaster and in almost every case it turned out to be nothing. So at least even just by going after the majority, after the rabim, the rov always turns out to be beneficial for you. And therefore worry in most cases is silly. It doesn’t help you at all.
Of course if you can do something it’s your obligation to do it but if there’s nothing you can do except worry so it’s not sensible to worry.
So now I’m going to repeat. If you have some seichel, you’re going to understand Hakadosh Baruch Hu will take care of you and it will all end up in the best way – unless you interfere and spoil it by doing wrong things.
Secondly, if you don’t have seichel, at least you know from experience that most of your worries in the past turned out to be false worries. And therefore now also go after the majority and say this also will turn out to be good.
TAPE # 428 (September 1982)
