Episode 118 - Finding Faith in Loneliness

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Ever found yourself stranded in a spiritual desert, wondering how to trust when your resources run dry? Today's exploration of the Trust Factor delves into that pivotal moment when faith meets financial hardship and social isolation.

The journey begins with a practical approach to trusting God when money is tight. Rather than offering empty platitudes, we discover how reflecting on past provisions creates a foundation for future faith. Consider the Israelites leaving Egypt—before manna fell from heaven, they first had to step into the unknown desert. That sequence matters: trust preceded the miracle, not the other way around. In today's world where actual starvation is rare and support systems abundant, remembering God's track record in your life becomes the cornerstone of genuine trust.

We then pivot to what Chavot HaLevavot calls the "third category of trust"—how divine faith transforms our relationships with everyone from family to enemies. For those experiencing loneliness or isolation, there's a profound opportunity to deepen your relationship with the Creator. A moving story about a university student who lost his father illustrates how God fills the void when human relationships disappear, creating an intimacy more powerful than what existed before.

Unlike human connections, this divine relationship never fades with distance or time. God doesn't simply set the world in motion and retreat to the background—He remains actively engaged in every aspect of your life, ready to respond when approached with sincerity. The result? Transformed confidence, improved outlook, and a life where everything seems to "fall into place."

Ready to experience the game-changing reality of having the Creator at your back? Speak to Him today like you would a loving parent, and watch as He enters your life in ways you never thought possible.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
Hello, my dear friends, welcome to the Trust
Factor.
I hope you had an amazingShabbat and a continued amazing
weekend for you.
I want to put a pin in whatwe've been discussing so far,
because Chavot HaLevavot isabout to switch gears.
He's going to get into theconversation of how we deal with
other people in our lives,somebody who trusts in God.

(00:22):
What are the circumstances thatwe find ourselves in with other
people in our lives, somebodywho trusts in God?
What are the circumstances thatwe find ourselves in with other
people, and how do we apply ahealthy thought process that'll
help us become successful in ourrelationships?
But before we go there, let'sput a pin in this concept of
making money.
We said that up until now, wetalked about the person who had

(00:45):
the money.
Now we're focusing on theperson who doesn't have the
money and we said that thatindividual who does not have the
means, who finds himself asking, who finds himself in a
position where he has adifficult time earning a living
that he simply has to put hisfaith in God.
How do you do that effectively,my friends?
It's very easy to say, it'svery easy for me to make these

(01:07):
statements how do you actuallydo this?
How do you implement it?
And the answer is, like I'vesaid before you go back and
reflect on your life.
You look at the good that youhave, you look at all the things
that you've been given, youlook at all the opportunities.
You remember and focus on thethings that you have and not on

(01:29):
the things that you don't have,and remember that you have not
missed a meal.
It has not happened.
People have not died ofstarvation around you.
If you're living in a firstworld country, my friends, this
concept of dying of starvationis simply not a reality today.
It is not.
I'm sure there is the oddexception, but by and large,

(01:52):
this simply does not happen.
We have an abundance of foodand resources and wealth and we
have organizations who are thereto help and assist anybody who
needs it, whether it's financesor food or other resources.
Thank God, we have spectacularorganizations dedicated to
taking so much money and givingpeople who need it to be able to

(02:16):
get on their feet and to live anormal life.
You have to recall the thingsthat you have and focus on the
good and not on the bad, and thething that it says over here as
an example of what to focus onis to remember that when we left
Egypt, we left a place where wehad resources, where we had

(02:37):
abundance.
Yes, we were slaves in Egypt.
Yes, it was brutal, no question, but we did not lack food, we
did not lack water.
We had those available to us.
And yet we picked up and weleft, not to some other built-up
city, we left into the desert,a dry, destitute area where you

(02:58):
will not find nourishment.
That's where we went and atthat point, my friends, when we
left, left Egypt, there was noman falling from the sky.
We did not get food fallingfrom the sky.
That came later on.
That was an open miracle thatwe enjoyed later on.
But before that started falling,we had to make the choice to
leave, which we see in the Torah.

(03:20):
We see very clearly that a lotof the people in the nation had
a very hard time leaving becausethey feared for their lives,
they feared for their very ownsurvival.
Very normal.
But remember, we did not gohungry.
Food fell from the sky.
Each one of us had to go up andpick our daily bread for
ourselves, not for tomorrow, butfor today.

(03:43):
And if you took more than yourfill, if you took for the next
day.
Then you would wake up to findthat what you took was spoiled,
and you have to remember thatit's the same God that gave you
all these wonderful things, thathas sustained you for the last
20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 years.
That's going to continue to dothat tomorrow and beyond.

(04:05):
My friends.
That's the bottom line.
Keep Hashem in your mind.
Keep God front and center.
You haven't lost up until now.
You have never missed a mealand you're not about to.
You are dealing with achallenging time in your life
and the only way to get throughit, and the best way to get
through it, is remembering whohas sustained you up until now.

(04:26):
Now we switch gears, my friends.
We move into the third categoryof trust, and it refers to
relationships with others, hesays let us now turn to the
explanation of the thirdcategory, which consists of
matters pertaining to one'srelationship with and
responsibilities to, his wife,children, household members,

(04:46):
relatives, friends, enemies,colleagues, acquaintances,
anybody and everybody under thesun, as well as those who are
above him or below him amongsocial groups, people you may
turn to for help or people whomay turn to you for help.
The correct way of applyingtrust in God regarding these
matters is as I will describe.

(05:07):
A person is invariably found inone of two situations.
Found in one of two situationsEither he is living as a
stranger in a place where he hasno company, meaning no friends,
no family, or he's living amonghis friends and relatives.
Each of these situations hasits own approach to trust in God

(05:28):
.
And he says if he's living as astranger, without family or
friends which we know is adifficult thing to do then when
he feels lonesome, he shouldtake comfort in being in the
company of God and when heencounters difficulty as a
foreigner, he should rely on himfor help.
I could tell you I have friends.

(05:49):
I remember growing up.
I have a really dear friend ofmine who lost a father when we
were in university first, secondyear university and I remember
speaking to him about itafterwards, and he had confided
in me that when his fatherpassed away, who was a very,
very big part of his life, inhis prayers to God, which became

(06:12):
that much more powerful andmeaningful, he cried out to God
to say I have nobody now.
I only have you.
You are taking the place of myfather in this world and he
leaned very heavily in hisloneliness.
He leaned very heavily on hisrelationship with God and that,
as a result, that relationshiphad flourished and had

(06:35):
strengthened and he built anunbelievable amount of trust and
faith in God as a result ofthat.
So, out of the negative, infocusing his energy on the
relationship with Hashem, withhis Creator, to be able to fill
that void, he had benefitedtremendously from it.
So he says over here, rememberyou're not alone.

(06:56):
God runs this world, he'severywhere.
He did not drop us off and saygood luck, sink or swim.
He did not drop us over hereafter he created the world, like
some people may want you tobelieve, and disappeared and
went in to operate the backoffice while we were on the
front.
That's not how it works.
He is intimately involved inevery single one of our lives.

(07:21):
I can speak to you fromexperience.
You might think it sounds crazy, but I could tell you I have an
intimate relationship with mycreator.
I ask, I receive, I listen, Ido his work, he does my work.
It is an unbelievablerelationship and as a result of

(07:41):
that relationship, my confidencehas grown.
My relationships have improved,my outlook on life is clear.
Everything just falls intoplace.
He is always with you.
He has the ability to be witheach and every single one of us
at every single time in ourlives.
He does not depart, he neverleaves us.

(08:04):
We can choose to try and leavehim.
In other words, we can walkaway from his Torah and his
mitzvahs, his commandments andhis deeds and his instructions,
in which case he will distancehimself from us.
In that he will allow you,because in you pulling away,
you're basically saying I don'twant to have anything to do with
you.
So we said, in the way that aperson wants to go, hashem has

(08:28):
an obligation to take him there.
So he pulls back.
He says you want to run at this, go for it.
You want to take this life bythe horns, you want to be
responsible for the outcomes,have at it, good luck.
And he retreats, so to speak,to allow you to attempt it.
Until, of course, you end uphitting a wall and you end up

(08:49):
hitting rock bottom.
And then you come back and yougo where are you, god?
How come you're not here?
And that's usually when you hitrock bottom.
You, you come back and you gowhere are you, god?
How come you're not here?
And that's usually when you hitrock bottom.
You don't have to get there.
You can deal with it today.
Bring them into your life today.
Have a real relationship withhim, a real give and take, a
real relationship where youspeak to him and where you hear

(09:11):
him.
You may not hear his voice,which would be a scary thing if
you did, but you will see hisactions, you will see the
outcomes and you will feel theconfidence in your bones and in
your soul.
It's a complete game changer,my friend.
So if you are a person who findshimself alone, living in a
strange part of the world, awayfrom family, or you simply have

(09:33):
no family left, remember thatyou always have your creator.
You always have not just yourcreator, but he who creates and
controls absolutely everythingand is limited by nothing.
He has the ability to doanything and everything.
Any loving family member coulddo for you if they were here.

(09:54):
Believe me, he's there and hewants to do these things for you
.
So please take the chance, takethe opportunity.
If you find yourself alone,look up to the heavens, reach
out, use your own words andspeak to him like you would
speak to a loving father, andask for the things that you need
, and then sit back and watchhow he enters your life and how

(10:14):
he runs the show for you.
My friends, there is nothingbetter in the world than to have
your creator at your back.
I wish you all that experienceevery day.
That wraps it up for today, myfriends.
We'll pick up tomorrow with theindividual who has family and
friends.
Have an amazing day.