Expected to Do His Will
A woman once approached me, complaining that she suffered from extreme weakness. Her systems were not functioning properly, and her doctors told her that she had to give her body a chance to strengthen itself in order for her to regain her health. Toward that end, they instructed her to refrain from entering another pregnancy until then. She asked that I bless her in my fathers’ merits that she should not become pregnant.
“How do you know you are not pregnant already?” I queried. “Maybe there is no point in praying that you don’t become pregnant?”
The woman was dumbfounded by my words. She had not thought along these lines and had therefore not tested herself for pregnancy. The truth was that I said this because I had a suspicion that she was expecting. If she was unaware of this, she was liable to take all sorts of medications which would prove harmful to the fetus. I instructed her to take a pregnancy test. She walked out of my office in a daze.
She repeated my strange words to her husband. He did not think they were realistic, but he said, “If the Rav tells you to check it out, then go and do it.” She went for testing and found out the next day that she was expecting a baby.
The siyata di’Shemaya that I merited in this incident is solely in the merit of my fathers, who sacrificed their lives for the sake of Torah and mitzvot. It is this merit which enables me to help out my fellow Jews by offering good advice.
When the woman returned to notify me of her pregnancy, I told her that although the doctors had recommended a break, Hashem obviously had other plans for her. It is Hashem’s word which endures. I blessed her that, B’ezrat Hashem, her strength would come back to her and her body would function accordingly, in the merit of this new baby whom she was carrying.
Baruch Hashem, she gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
This incident taught me a tremendous lesson. Often, a person feels that he can control whether or not to bring children into this world. But Hashem is the only One Who decides. All that man can do is actualize His will or prevent it from occurring. But whatever Hashem desires is what will ultimately happen.
