A yungerman from Eretz Yisrael related a story that underscores this point that the story is often still unfolding.
It was on one rainy Erev Shabbos, and he needed to travel from one city to another for Shabbos. The family decided to take the cheaper mode of transportation: the bus. Expecting that the bus would be jampacked on an Erev Shabbos like this, he told his children, “Let’s daven to Hashem that there should be enough seats for us.” Sure enough, the bus pulls up and it’s mostly empty—even though they were at the last stop between the cities.
When a person has money, he can often forget that there’s a Ribbono shel Olam. But this Yid knew that he couldn’t afford a car service, and so he davened.
The family got on the bus with all their packages and carriages and children—grateful to Hashem for the ample seating—and the bus begins making its way to the destination city. But upon arriving there, the driver got lost, and he dropped off the family—with all their many belongings—quite a distance from where they needed to go.
Left in the rain, they started making their way to their hosts—but not before realizing that, in all the chaos, the father had left his shtreimel on the bus! Where would he find a shtreimel at this hour? He began making calls... to no avail. Eventually, he called a wealthy relative who informed him that he had a few shtreimels at home, and he was welcome to come choose any that he liked—which he did.
Following Shabbos, his relative asked him: “How did you enjoy the shtreimel?” Ah! It was mamish beautiful—l’kavod Shabbos kodesh!” “If so,” he said, “do me a favor and keep it! I have more than I need!”
And so it was that because of the chaotic bus ride, and the ensuing unpleasant events, this Yid came to own a beautiful new shtreimel that he could never have afforded on his own!
This yungerman related that when he was dropped off in the middle of nowhere, he wondered: The Ribbono shel Olam provided us with nice, comfortable seats on the bus when we davened to Him. Did He bring us this far only to throw us down the stairs?!
He needed only to wait till the end of the story...
Don’t Get Lost in the Middle of the Story
So, what’s the lesson of this story? The lesson is that we often get lost in the middle of the story. There’s no difference between this story and stories that happen to us daily. When a person finds himself involved in a problem, he will often say: I was sure that the Ribbono shel Olam is building me up. I started to see success in my business.... I thought that I’ll continue to go higher and higher... Did the Ribbono shel Olam bring me this far only to throw me down all the stairs?! Just when I need to marry off my children, why did everything begin to turn bad? Why did He abandon me?
The answer is that the Ribbono shel Olam didn’t abandon you! You’re simply in the middle of the story! Wait, with patience. Believe, and you will see that לא יבושו כל קויך!
A Yid must be able to get up in front of the whole world and proclaim: You see me? I have no fear, because I am certain that the Ribbono shel Olam won’t abandon me! One must be able to say this with certainty and clarity. To shout it from the rooftops to all those who are doubtful or shaky—waiting to see “whether the words of Mordechai will prevail”: I don’t know about you, but to me it’s clear that I will never be abandoned by the Ribbono shel Olam.
And when a Yid has such strong bitachon, he will later be able to transform the faith of others—because they will see that this mehalech works well! A Yid who relies on the Ribbono shel Olam, even when he doesn’t see a yeshuah — the Ribbono shel Olam will never abandon him! להודיע שכל קויך לא יבושו ולא יכלמו לנצח כל החוסים בך!
