A Yid who is dealing with something difficult told me the following:
Why am I going through so much? How is it that I daven so much and yet I am never answered?
Min haShamayim, I remembered a story that Moishy’s father told me, and this story is a wonderful answer to all those questions:
Moishy was in the hospital. He was generally okay, baruch Hashem, but he had a certain medical issue for which he had to be given liquids intravenously, and he was not allowed to drink.
On one of the days of his hospitalization, the child cried bitterly, “I want to drink! Give me water! Please!” I stood at his side and felt terrible for him. I pitied him to the depths of my soul, and yet I did not bring him what he wanted. It was hard to hold back, but I had to, because I could not interfere with the medical process that he had to undergo.
Suddenly Moishy turned to me personally and asked, “Abba, please have pity on me, give me something to drink!”
My eyes filled with tears, but then I caught myself and told my dear son, “Moishy, I am your father. I love you so much, and I could do only what is good for you. I see it is difficult for you, very difficult, but I know that drinking will be harmful to you. Would you want me — your father – to cause you harm? I am simply not capable of that.”
Slowly, slowly, his crying eased up. He understood the idea, and he stopped asking. He understood that “it’s hard for me, but it’s for my good.”
This is the answer to people who are dealing with something difficult and going through all sorts of processes in life. When we remember that it is a Father, Who is more merciful than any merciful creature in the world, Who is causing this, then we also remember that it’s for our good. We remember that if it’s difficult for us, then it is also hard for our Father. Our Father in Shamayim does only what is good to His child, and He will protect us from everything that is not good, even if it would seem easier if He did not, because our Father is a merciful Father.
May we merit to see His revealed and visible mercy.
Gut Shabbat
Pinchas Shefer
