In parashas Vayeitzei, Yaakov saw shepherds standing near the well, and they weren't taking out the water to give their sheep. Yaakov asked them why, and they replied that a heavy stone was on top of the well. They were waiting for all the shepherds to come so they could remove the heavy rock off the top of the well.
The Imrei Emes zt'l asks that Yaakov Avinu certainly saw the stone over the well. Why didn't he understand on his own that they were waiting for a large crowd to gather so they could push off the heavy stone? Yaakov was telling them, "I understand the stone is heavy, but why don't you at least try?"
Parashas Vayeira begins with Avraham Avinu's hachnosas orchim and concludes with the Akeidah. Rebbe Tzadok HaKohen says these great deeds were about "trying" and not actually about doing. Avraham didn't actually perform hachnosas orchim because malachim don't need to eat. Hachnasas orchim is to help people, but Avraham didn't help the malachim when he gave them food. He also didn't perform the akeidah because Hashem told him to stop and take Yitzchak off the mizbeiach. And yet, these two deeds are so praised, and we gained so many zechusim from these mitzvos until this very day. And that is because our job in avodas Hashem is to try, not necessarily succeed.
He wasn't named תוכל, for winning the war. He is ישראל because of שרית כי, for fighting the war. Once again, this is because to stand in battle is the ultimate praise.
Yitzchak tried to dig a well, but the people of Gror took it away. So, Yitzchak went somewhere else and tried again. He didn't stop trying until he succeeded. The Chofetz Chaim ztl teaches that this tells us, “If at first you don't succeed, try again and again," and in the end, you will succeed.
The same is true with gashmiyus pursuits. Don't give up. Keep trying, and Hashem will help.
Yearning to Do Good
And if you can't try, at least, yearn and pine to do good. The Zohar states, "When a person tries and yearns to know Torah, even if he isn't successful, everyone praises him." The Divrei Yisrael zt'l explains, "A person works in his store, he has a lot of work to do, he can't leave, but he yearns to study Torah."
The Yesod HaAvodah (vol.2, 6) writes in a letter, “Years ago, a general received a letter that said the enemy army was winning the war and had broken through their military strongholds. The general became very down, and he told his wife about the letter.
“She replied, ‘I also received a letter. It came just this minute. It tells of a greater loss than what you told me.’
‘Really! What does it say?’
‘It says that in addition to losing that fort, you lost your enthusiasm and spirit, which is the greatest loss.”
We shouldn't lose hope. We should keep on trying, and that is what counts.
