The Baal Shem Tov once asked one of his chassidim to go on a walk with him. They walked through the forest, discussing various Torah topics, and at some point the Besht asked the chossid if he was thirsty. The chossid replied that he was in fact thirsty, but he sees that the Rebbe isn’t carrying any water, and they haven’t passed any streams of water, so there is nothing to be done. “It’s OK”, he says, “I’ll make it back home.” The Baal Shem Tov said, “If you really believe that when Hashem wants you to have water, you will have water, then you will see that Hashem will send you water.” The chossid stopped and spent some time internalizing this, until he truly felt this trust in Hashem, and knew that Hashem could send him water right now.
Just then, they heard a rustling in the trees, and a water carrier emerged, shlepping 2 large buckets of water. The carrier was thrilled to see them, and told them that he’s been lost in the forest for 3 days and urgently needs directions back to civilization. In return he offered them as much water as they needed!
After the chossid made a brocha and drank some water, the Baal Shem Tov told him “You see? You believed that Hashem could help, and He did!” The chossid had one question. “How can you say that it was my belief in Hashem that sent this water carrier to us, if my belief only started five minutes ago, but the water courier said he’s been lost for three days, way before my trust in Hashem started!”
The Baal Shem Tov answered: “Just as you had trust in Hashem that He would send you water, Hashem had trust in YOU that you would have trust in Him! Three days ago, Hashem set this chain of events into motion, trusting that when you would take a walk in the forest in three days and be thirsty with no water, you’d reinforce your trust in Him and thereby earn his salvation!”
What a lesson! At every moment and through every challenge, the Creator of the world trusts us that we’ll pass the test – and prepares the salvation well in advance, trusting in us that we will trust Him, and thereby earn the salvation. Who knows how many salvations that we seek are “right beyond the treeline” and just out of sight, and all we need to do to earn it is to trust in Hashem, and believe in him as much as He believes in us!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 7.