Even If Things Seem Hopeless, It Is a Sin to Lose Hope
The Ralbag says that the situation with Yaakov was just about lost, and Yaakov wasn’t Mya'esh. The Me’am Lo’ez says that from here we learn that if you visit a sick person who appears to be more dead than alive, Rachana Litzlan, you must still daven, and it’s a sin not to! אַפִּילוּ חֶרֶב חַדָה מוּנַחַת עַל צַוָארוֹ שֶל אָדָם, אַל יִּתְיַיאֵש עַצְמוֹ מִן הָרַחֲמִים (Berachos 10a) – even if a sharp sword is resting on a person’s neck, he shouldn’t lose hope! Even though everyone is saying that for sure this sick person’s life is over!
In Novardok, when they learned Mussar on Bitachon, they would demand from themselves Bitachon; i.e., how can you NOT have Bitachon; after all the wonders that you’ve seen? עַד אָנָה יְנַאֲצֻנִי הָעָם הַזֶה וְעַד אָנָה לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ בִּי בְּכֹל הָאֹתוֹת אֲשֶר עָשִיתִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ (Shlach 14:11) – After all the miracles I did for them, when will they finally believe in Me?? The Bais HaLevi says that being afraid and not having Bitachon is a sin, and: חֶרְדַת אָדָם יִתֵן מוֹקֵש (Mishlei 29:25) – this sin (of worrying) invites problems, which come as a punishment for not having Bitachon. Yet, we see how people are always worried, and working on Bitachon isn’t easy.
