If I face obstacles while pursuing a spiritual goal, how can I discern whether these are typical meniyos (obstacles) that I should push through with perseverance, or if they are a sign from Hashem that I should pause and yield to His Will?
It is common that when one begins a new project in ruchniyos, initially he feels a surge of cheishek (passion), but over time, that excitement fades. When this happens, one should not give up. Instead, he should push forward with mesiras nefesh, continuing even without excitement, and in doing so, the cheishek will eventually return.
As for whether the obstacles (meniyos) come from the yetzer hara, it depends on the way the menoyis present themselves. In general we try to push forward with mesiras nefesh and persevere over the meniyos.
However, if one’s cheishek towards his spiritual goal is so intense that he feels an urgent need to do everything immediately, leading to stress and frustration, when things don’t progress as quickly as he desires, then we apply the principle of לא לדחוק את השעה (roughly translated as “do not force the moment.”) In such a case, one should be suspect that perhaps this overwhelming cheishek stems from the yetzer hara. The distress it causes is the real challenge, and overcoming it means working through the anxiety rather than forcefully pushing forward.
In summary: When facing obstacles in ruchniyos, if the struggle is with external barriers, they are likely from the yetzer hara, and the response should be to push through them. But if the struggle is with internal distress over not being able to advance immediately, then the distress itself is the yetzer hara, and the focus should be on managing that distress rather than forcefully overcoming the external obstacles.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 32.