“Then you shall remember Hashem, your G-d: that it is He Who gives you the strength to make wealth” (Devarim 8:18)
The Ramban adds: And if you will forget Hashem, your strength will diminish just like that of the nations, for all who forsake Hashem are destroyed.
“If [one is attracted] to those who scoff, he will scoff; but [if one is attracted] to the humble, he will find favor” (Mishlei 3:34)
Reish Lakish expounds: If a person comes to defile himself, he will be given the ability to do so. If a person comes to purify himself, he will be assisted. This is analogous to a man who sold both kerosene and perfume. When someone came to purchase kerosene, the merchant told him to measure it himself. When another person came to buy perfume, he asked the man to wait while he measured it out for him, so that he, too, could benefit from its good scent (Yoma 38b).
With every thought, word, and deed that a person does, he creates an angel, for better or worse. For this reason, our Sages say, “In the way a man wishes to go, he is led.” Hashem allows a person to decide the course his life will take. All is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. A person’s desire and thoughts create angels which guide him according to the way he wishes to go. This is what is meant by the above-quoted pasuk: If one is drawn after scoffers, he will create an angel of scoffing. But if one is drawn after the humble, he will create angels of humility, who will advocate for him before Hashem (Maharsha, Chiddushei Aggadot, Makkot 10b).
Rav Huna says (Yoma 22b), “A person does not realize how much Hashem helps him.”
Rashi says: A person should feel secure, for he does not have to worry about anything, since Hashem is his help.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: Every day, a person’s impulse overpowers him and attempts to kill him, as the pasuk says, (Tehillim 37:32), “The wicked one looks out for the righteous and desires to kill him” (Sukkah 52b).
The Midrash says (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5:3) in the name of Rabbi Yosa: Hashem told Bnei Yisrael, “My sons, open for Me an opening in teshuvah, like the point of a needle, and I will open for you openings which wagons can enter.”
Rabbi Dessler (Michtav Me’Eliyahu III, pg. 320) quotes the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah, Parashah 12): There was a drunkard who would waste his last penny on his addiction. His children decided to take matter into their own hands. They took him to the cemetery and left him in a cave. As Providence would have it, a caravan of wine merchants happened to be passing near the cemetery, when they heard that the nearby city had enacted new taxes on alcoholic beverages. They hurried to unload their merchandise, containing jugs of wine, and hide it in the cemetery. Then they went to confirm the rumor.
Meanwhile, the drunkard awoke from his stupor. He was only too happy to find a jug of wine literally at his head. He opened it and took a swig of the sweet liquid.
After three days, the children went to the cemetery in order to discover their father’s fate. Imagine their chagrin at finding him with a jug of wine to his lips. They said, “Even here, your Creator has not forgotten you. Since He provides you with alcohol wherever you are, we don’t know what to do with you.” They arranged that every day, another child would provide their father with drink.
Rabbi Dessler ends: How awe-struck I was to discover that the dictum “In the way a man wishes to go, he is led” does not only apply in a natural manner, but also pertains to even seemingly far-fetched miraculous ways. If this is the case concerning negative desires, all the more so is it true concerning positive aspirations, since good attributes are much weightier than bad ones. Regarding negative interests, we are told that a person is permitted to make bad choices, whereas for positive interests, he is given Divine assistance. Hashem Himself promises to open a wide aperture for the one who simply opens a small opening in teshuvah. This is utterly amazing. Afterward, it is all considered man’s achievement, as the pasuk states (Tehillim 1:2), “And in his (the person’s) Torah, he meditates day and night.”
