"The Way of G-d"
Part 2: “Divine Providence”
Chapter 3: “Personal Providence”
Paragraph 7
G-d takes absolutely everything into account when assessing our worldly
situations: this very moment, everything preceding it, and everything
following it. And all with an eye towards our own -- as well as everything
else's -- place in the universe. As such, G-d's assessments and subsequent
decisions are utterly all-encompassing, all-inclusive, and based on
infinite wisdom (as one would only expect).
Another point to be made is that G-d doesn't only base our life situations on
our own actions at any one time, as we tend to think. He also bases them on
the actions of our ancestors (both those ancestors immediately preceding us,
and those further back), what our descendants will do, and on what our
contemporaries, our neighbors, and the like do. Only then does He determine
our situation. Which is to say that we and our lives are always seen in a
context, and that allowances are made for us and expectations had of us based
on that context.
All this goes to explain why some people are born or settle into wealthy or
poor families and societies, healthy or sickly ones, and the like.
We tend to think it unfair how these sorts of things "happen". But let it be
said from the outset that nothing just "happens"; it's all layed out by G-d
Almighty. And that the reason why we think things are sometimes unfair is
because we tend to see our own lives from a rather askewed, one-sided
perspective, while G-d sees factors everything in.
Make no mistake about it, though. This all has to do with our worldly
situation. It's we who determine our eternal situation in The World to Come
by our actions.
This series is dedicated to the memory of Yitzchak Hehrsh ben Daniel,
and Sarah Rivka bas Yaakov Dovid.
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