What would happen, Ribbono shel Olam, if You would send me ten thousand dollars now?” a Yid cries out. What is he asking for, after all? A sum that is not even a crumb relative to the gold and silver that the Creator of all worlds has.
True, the person won’t need the sum for another few days, but it’s pressuring him already today. He’s making extra efforts, such as borrowing and working a bit more. He’s trying to do this sooner rather than later, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in His goodness and in His great mercy and His never-ending kindness, is holding back this sum from him. It will certainly come, for Hashem does not abandon His nation, but not now. Why?
Because there is a cheshbon that is hidden from us. It’s a pity to feel pressured; there is no reason to worry. The Ribbono shel Olam has the treasure, and He will give it when the time for it comes. Rabbenu Bachyai wrote (in chapter 4), “And when he trusts in Hashem, he will find rest in his heart and serenity in his soul.”
What a pity to make all the extra efforts and live with so much fear. Come sit and rest and eat calmly from the food that Hashem sent you today. It’s a pity to eat yourself up over something that hasn’t happened yet.
If it happens that a person receives what he needs before its time, he might waste the money on all sorts of extras, and then when he really needs the money, he’ll find himself with nothing. By getting things sooner you gain nothing. It happens every day that a sum of money was providentially delayed in coming, only to appear at the exact moment when it was most needed.
Serenity and calmness for those who strengthen their bitachon applies especially when a person has: 1) the belief that whatever is set aside for him will not be transferred to another, and 2) the belief that it will not come earlier or later than the time when it was decreed for him.
The mefarshim lead us to maseches Yoma 38: Ben Azzai said: They will call you by the title that you have earned, and they will seat you in the place that befits you, and they will give you what belongs to you; no person can touch what has been decreed for someone else, and no king’s reign takes even a hairsbreadth from another.
Rashi explains that a person should not worry that someone else will cause him to lose out on his parnassah, because even if the man himself doesn’t want it, then against his will he will be called to take the work, the position, the business that is set aside for him on High.
Sometimes it seems that “someone took what is mine.” We see the other person opening a store that sells the exact products as the first one sells, and it seems that he is taking the other’s customers; or two people give in resumes to apply for a job, and the one that is hired thinks the other one took his opportunity. That’s why it says, “and they will give you what belongs to you.” This means his sustenance is determined for him on High, and no one in the world can take something from someone else, nor can anyone give something to someone else if it has not been decreed by the Creator.
Fortunate is the one who merits to be among those who give tzedakah, but the person who receives the money — that has already been decreed, and the person receives only that which is his.
This applies to kingships as well. While we do not yearn to be kings in the literal sense, every position that has authority and influence is in essence an aspect of kingship. Chazal speak at length in Sefer Daniel of how the reign of Belshatzar fell exactly on the night when the Persian reign had to begin, in order to teach us to recognize that each thing comes exactly in its time.
Dovid Hamelech asked Hashem to let him know when his final day would come. Hashem revealed to him that it would be on Shabbos. Dovid wanted to push it off to Sunday, so that they would be able to bury him and say hespedim right away, but Hashem answered him that the reign of his son Shlomo had to begin already, and there was no way to delay this. Dovid then asked to move it up to Friday, and Hashem told him: One day of your occupying yourself in Torah is worth more to Me than a thousand korbanos that your son Shlomo will bring up in the future!
If one day in the life of Dovid Hamelech is so important, why shouldn’t he live another day? It is because this matter of “no king’s reign takes even a hairsbreadth from another” is very important!
Therefore, we should not try to hasten that which is meant to come later or delay that which is already meant to come. We should rely on the Creator of the world, Who constantly supervises us, knowing that He is arranging everything in the best possible way, and then we’ll be zocheh to have peace in our hearts and serenity in our souls, and this peace and serenity are saved for those who strengthen themselves in bitachon in Hashem.
