When my father was a child, growing up in his father's home (Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l), the children would place water near their bed to wash negel vasser upon awakening in the morning. One evening, there was no running water, so the children went to sleep without preparing the water near their bed. When their father, Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l, saw that, he rebuked them. "You should have at least placed the empty cups near your bed," he said.
Because a person must do whatever he can, and Hashem will help him with the rest.
It states (2:5), ותקחה אמתה את ותשלח, "[Basya] stretched out her arm, and she took [Moshe's teivah]." אמתה means arm, and it also means cubits. Rashi writes, הרבה אמות אמתה ונשתרבבה, "Her arm grew many amos long." Moshe was out of her reach, nevertheless, she stretched out her arm, and miraculously, she was able to grab onto the teivah.
The Rebbe of Kotzk zt'l asks, why did Basya try to reach Moshe? Didn’t she realize that it was impossible? The answer is that one must try, even when the odds are against him. And when one tries, Hashem will enable him to succeed.
Moshe didn’t want to go and speak to Pharaoh because he had a speech impediment. Hashem told him (4:12) והוריתיך פיך עם אהיה ואנכי לך תדבר אשר, "Go, and I shall be with your mouth and teach you what you should say." The Or HaChaim explains that Hashem was telling Moshe that he doesn’t have to be concerned about his speech deficiency because if he carries out Hashem's mission, Hashem will heal him.
The Or HaChaim writes, "Hashem said, 'Until you start doing the mitzvah of going to Pharaoh, there's no reason to remove your speech impediment. לך, go and do the shlichus, and when you speak, you will see that your speech impediment is cured. This is the meaning of תדבר אשר והוריתיך, 'I will show you that you can speak.' It doesn’t state, תדבר אשר את והוריתיך, 'I will teach you the words you should speak.' It states תדבר אשר והוריתיך, 'I will show you that you can speak.' The explanation is, I will show you that you can speak very fluently."
Moshe's speech problem would disappear because all barriers and obstacles are removed when one tries his best to do Hashem's will.
The Gemara (Yoma 38.) says:
"Nikanor went to Alexandria, Egypt, to bring copper doors [for the Eastern gate of the azarah in the Beis HaMikdash]. When he was returning from Alexandria, a storm threatened to drown them. The passengers took one of the doors and threw it into the sea, but the ship still threatened to capsize. They wanted to throw the other door into the water, but Nikanor stood up, wrapped his arms around it, and said, 'Throw me in the water with it.' Immediately, the sea calmed. Nikanor was upset that one door was thrown into the sea. When they docked in Acco, Eretz Yisrael, the other door was right there, bobbing up and down beneath the ship..."
This story is another reminder that you should do whatever you can, even when the odds are against your success. One of the doors was tossed into the sea. Logic dictates that the Beis HaMikdash couldn’t use one door without its pair. So why was Nikanor moser nefesh to bring one door to the Beis HaMikdash? The answer is that he did what he could, and indeed, Hashem helped him.
