What the Rav said:
They’re not out to break you. They want you to make teshuva.
A person who gets a hit, he thinks that they’re out to break him. He thinks that they’re out to make him despair.
We need to think the opposite. I deserved this. After all, I’ve committed numerous sins and I’ve never made teshuva.
I came to Breslev, to Rabbenu, in order to make teshuva. I didn’t come so that I could say that I’m the greatest Tzadik, that I’m something special.
Every time a person gets hit, its really an invitation to make teshuva.
My thoughts:
How do we view the difficulties in our life?
Is Hashem ‘out to get me’? Or, is there a better explanation for what is going on right now?
Hashem is a loving Father, who only wants the best for us. Just like a loving father only berates his son in order to put him on the right path, all the more so Hashem only wants the
best for us.
Chazal say that a moment of teshuva in this world is worth more than all of the World to Come.
Hashem wants us to merit all of the World to Come, and more!
Sometimes, we need a wake-up call, to remind us to make teshuva.
But, when that wake-up call comes, we need to remember why we’re being woken up – and not try to pull the covers back over our head and go back to sleep!