"The Way of G-d"

Part 2: “Divine Providence”
Chapter 3: “Personal Providence”

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One of the last points to be made about G-d's interactions with us touches on the fact that we might be in the middle of a full course of events and not know it.

For we're taught that sometimes our current life situation is a means to an end rather than an end unto itself. It's in fact an end when it's a product of one (or more) of the causes we cited in past classes. And it's a means to another end altogether when it's not a product of any one of those causes. The trouble of course is that we can never know for sure which is a means and which is an end.

Knowing that our current situation might be a means to another unknown end, though, may serve to assuage some troubled souls whose circumstances are utterly beyond them. It might give them comfort to know that it's simply part of a process which they simply can't fathom.

Another point to consider is that oftentimes a situation that appears to be bad at the time turns out to be good in the end. As when someone gets a flat tire on a lonely stretch of road and comes to be rescued by a long-lost friend. Or when he misses a flight on a plane that later crashes.

And lastly we're taught that we're sometimes forced to endure things for *other people's sake*. So that they might experience things they'd otherwise not be exposed to (which may have nothing to do with us at all, in fact).

But, again, the point to be made is that it's G-d Almighty Himself who determines all this, and with everyone's ultimate good in mind.

This series is dedicated to the memory of Yitzchak Hehrsh ben Daniel, and Sarah Rivka bas Yaakov Dovid.

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