Basya Tsybukmakher
The mashgiach of the Lomza Yeshiva, of righteous memory, said the following about the verse: “He found him in a parched desert land where (the wind) howls, surrounded him and instructed him, and guarded him as the apple of His eye”.
Who can merit having the Almighty surround him with clouds of glory, instruct him, and guard him as the apple of His eye?
Only someone who lives with the feeling that he is in a desert, alone, with no one to rely on except the Almighty, blessed be He. Then the Almighty, too, guards and protects him. As King David said, “I am a stranger on earth”—I am like a stranger who has neither relative nor acquaintance in a foreign land, only the Almighty, blessed be He.
But the Almighty will not help the fool who turns to the Creator in prayer while thinking, “Well, as a last resort, if G-d does not help, I will ask my uncle for money,” because he relies on others.
Just as in the desert no one can rob a person and take what belongs to him, so too among people—everything is subject to the Creator's will. Only He can give to a person and take away from him.
A Jew once came to Rabbi Meir of Premishlan to complain about a friend who, he said, was taking away his livelihood. The tzaddik replied: “Do you know why a horse strikes the water with its hoof when it comes to drink? It sees its reflection and thinks it is another horse that is about to drink all its water… But you are not a horse, and you should know that there is enough water for everyone.”
One who relies on G-d will lack nothing!