Now is Better

What is emunah? What is faith in Hashem?  

If I had the following, faith would be easier to come by:  

1. Money. I’m tired of worrying about money, it takes too much away from my life. If I had plenty in the bank, I could focus more of my time and energy on serving Hashem. I wouldn’t need to ask myself if I should be learning all day or bouncing back and forth between Torah and income. 
2. Financial security. My money should make money. If the money I had produced more each year than I needed, I could dedicate even more of myself to God without worrying about such mundane matters. 
3. A nice home. Why should I drive through several posh Arab towns with their multi-story homes while I have a mortgage? If I had a big home like everybody else, I could better fulfill the tenth commandment of not coveting what belongs to others. 
4. Influence. It’s way too stressful to be ignored by everyone, only to watch other people get noticed. If I could walk into a room and know I could approach anyone with the things I wanted, my prayers wouldn’t be weighed down by feelings of frustration and helplessness. 
5. Notoriety. It’s such a good feeling when people smile at me. I love people looking up to me at work, in Shul (synagogue), and at home. Hashem, can You make me well-known so I will always have a chipper demeanor?
6. Health. I don’t want to worry anymore about weight loss, blood pressure, or exercise. It’s hard to connect to You when I worry about the physical welfare of my loved ones and myself. 
7. Strength. There is too much to do in a day. I want to sleep 4 hours a night to get everything I need done. If I could work 120 hours in a six-day work week, there would be much less to worry about. Faith would come easy. 
8. Focus. There are way too many distractions in life. Help me focus so I can pray properly and do things in life right the first time. 
9. Results. The most devastating feeling in life comes when you work for something day in and day out, and you see no results. Worse, you see other people put in a fraction of the effort and they’re doing a lot better. Please bless me with results for my efforts.  
10. Heaven guaranteed. There is too much pressure to work for a place in the Next World. If I knew that it was guaranteed, I could serve You with less stress. I would pray to You with more happiness. Can You guarantee heaven, so I don’t have to toil with such uncertainty? 

Having emunah is quite simple: 

It’s knowing that where Hashem puts you right now and what He is giving you at this moment is infinitely better for you than if all your demands were met.  

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Marketing, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.