Torah and Mitzvos are for our Benefit
Until now, we discussed believing that the yesurim we endure are for our good and to recognize that the portion Hashem gives us is best for us, even when it seems smaller than the portion that others have.
We now take this a step further to believe that Torah and Mitzvos are for our benefit. This seems obvious, but unfortunately, some people are confused about this. And to an extent, everyone needs chizuk to believe that Torah and mitzvos are for our good. We will explain this with a mashal:
A king had a servant who served him for many years with devotion. When the servant died, the king wanted to bestow kindness on the servant's son. He told the son to take two empty bags and go to the king's treasury. "Fill the bags with anything you want."
The servant's son didn't realize he would be allowed to keep everything for himself. With a bitter heart, he thought, "The king wants to clean up the treasury, so he is taking advantage of me, and he gave me this job. I will show the king that he chose the wrong person. I won’t work hard at all."
He picked up a few small items and placed them into sacks. He wouldn't take more. "Let the king know he should find someone else to be his slave."
But then the king told him he could keep everything in his bags. Now he regretted that he didn't take so much more. Had he known it was for his benefit, he would fill his bags with the most precious gems.
The nimshal is that Hashem gave us Torah and mitzvos, but people try to get around them. They suspect that they are for Hashem and not for them. They don't believe that the mitzvos are for their benefit. Someone with temimus will know in his heart that Hashem's mitzvos are for his good, and he will try to do as many mitzvos as possible.
The Gemara Shabbos (88.) says that Rava was so engrossed in his studies that he didn't realize that his fingers were under his foot and started bleeding. A Tzedoki (a Jewish apikores) saw this and said, "You are a wild nation. You spoke before you heard, and I see you still act in your wild ways. Why didn't you check first to see whether the Torah is too hard to keep, and if you find that the Torah is too difficult, you don't accept the Torah."
Rava replied that "We go with temimus. We trust in Hashem that Hashem won't obligate us to do that which is too hard for us. As it states (Mishlei 11:3) תנחם ישרים תומת, 'The temimus of the upright leads them.' But you and your apikorsim friends complain and have complaints about Hashem. About you, it states (Mishlei 11:3) ישדם בוגדים וסלף, "The distortion of the treacherous robs them."
So, we've seen that the suffering we must endure, the small portion we have, and the Torah and mitzvos that Hashem gave us are all for our benefit and good. Temimus is to believe in one's heart that it is so.
