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Who is Bothering You??
By Larry Fine
People bothering you? Getting upset? And you believe that there is a G-d in the world?
Hmmph! Do you really have a belief in G-d or are you imagining that you do?
Let me tell you a story that will explain clearly how to deal with these messes in life.
Once there was a king who had a dear son. The son was on the obstinate side and wanted to do what he wanted to do. He left the palace of the king and started life on his own. His living standards were much lower than would be expected of a prince, but the young man did not care. He was out to enjoy life. It displeased the king immensely to see that his son was living a life which brought disgrace both to the king and his kingdom.
The king who ruled the entire kingdom had many faithful servants. He desired very much that the prince should return to the castle and eventually become the next king, but his behavior was intolerable. What did the king do? He sent out his servants to bother the prince and interfere with the prince's life of pleasure.
First he had the police to arrest him in a manner that the son should not realize it was on the orders of the king. They charged him with various minor charges. To give the son a difficult time they continually sought out ways to harass him. The prince did not think that these investigations and arrests originated from his father, the king; he thought that they were part of living a "free" life-style. He did not take the hint that his father wanted him back but rather he continued in his rebellious manner. The king then sent out other servants to vandalize the prince's apartment. Still the prince just accepted it as part of life – after all, bandits and robbers are part of life when one lives alone in the kingdom. Over and over the king would send various servants to cause the prince problems with the hope that his son should return to him.
The son, not being an overly observant and astute person, took the intrusions on his life as most people do. It irritated him, but he felt that what can he do? Crooks, robbers, charlatans, thieves, even police investigations and arrests – these seemed just part of life. He did not realize that all of his troubles come from one source.
We are the same. Our Father in heaven wants us to return to him. He wants that our service to Him be pure. So He sends his agents to disturb us to see if we are so involved in our material life or will we realize that disturbances are from Him. Or do we think that it is just a "coincidence".
If we were really tuned into life and contemplated upon the fact that it is G-d who is running the world and everything in it, we will realize that all is from him - the good and the "bad". Whether it is our car breaking down, or the shopkeeper being nasty to us, or our neighbor giving us difficulties – they are really agents of G-d. He has more agents than we can contemplate to disrupt our life. Financial problems, health, children, marriage, etc, all of our problems come from G-d. Therefore we must address our problems to the correct address.
It is not our neighbor, store keeper, child etc that is the real problem. Our real problem is that we relate the problem to them instead of realizing that it comes from G-d. G-d uses many agents to cause us difficulty only in order that we should come closer to him; that we should address Him and speak to Him.
When you have a problem, no matter from what source, direct your conversation to G-d. He is the source of all existence in the world. Nothing happens unless He decrees it to happen.
Use the problems that He hands you to get closer to Him. After all that is why He gave them to you.
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from the January 2007 Edition of the Jewish Magazine
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