The Rationale of Faith: I Prayed and Believed with All My Heart, So Why Didn't Hashem Perform a Miracle for Me?

We are a generation fond of miracles. And why not, actually? In a time when anxieties, depressions, fears, and worries are abundant, what better remedy is there than exposure to testimonies of instances where a sword was laid on the neck, but the person did not despair from mercy, and indeed was written and sealed for good life and peace?

We all know the story of Aharon Margalit and his miraculous victory over cancer that was not supposed to be beaten. We all share stories via email about the couple who played the lottery because they couldn’t afford to pay the electricity bill — and Hashem sent them the money, greatly. Stories about the couple whom the doctors swore would never have children — and behold, after forty years they were blessed. If someone is in trouble of any kind, believers are always eager to encourage them, reminding them of the miraculous happenings they heard about: 'I know them personally, my neighbor!' urging 'Think positive, it will be good! Strengthen your faith, and everything will be okay!'

But what happens when you strengthen your faith, and yet nothing is okay?

Sometimes we feel uncomfortable asking this question, but deep down it bothers many of us. Our righteous friend, who fell ill with cancer and believed with all his heart, prayed every moment, spoke confidently every day... he is no longer with us because Hashem took him. And our wonderful aunt, who never despaired, running to another righteous man's grave and another rabbi, gathering blessings and prayers wherever she could, believed with all her might... she is already seventy, and has no children.

What are we supposed to think when we can’t divert our thoughts and think of these dear people, who didn’t receive the miracle at their door? And what happens when difficulties or trouble land, heaven forbid, in our private backyard? What happens when we listen to everyone who strengthens us, read all the books discussing the greatness of faith, refuse to listen to any pessimistic word and truly believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform a miracle for us—what happens when, despite it all, it is the pessimistic forecast that materializes?

It might ease us to hear that we are not dealing with new quandaries. Our generation may have raised the genre of 'miracle stories' to unprecedented levels, but the questions we ponder have been pondered before us. And so wrote the Chazon Ish of blessed memory in his treatise 'Emunah u'Bitachon':

"An age-old mistake has taken root in many hearts regarding the concept of 'faith'. The concept of 'faith', which serves as a praised and essential measure in the mouths of the pious, has been confused with the idea of 'duty to believe'—in any case a person faces and stands towards an uncertain future, with two possible ways ahead, one good and the other not—certainly the good will come to pass, and if he doubts and fears the reversal of good, he is considered lacking in faith. And this teaching in faith is not correct, for any future that has not been clarified by prophecy is undecided, as who can know Hashem's judgments and His rewards? But the essence of faith is the trust that nothing in the world is coincidental and all that occurs under the sun is all announced by Him". (Chazon Ish, Emunah u'Bitachon, Chapter 2).

What does the Chazon Ish say? Stop for a moment. Don’t rush so quickly with your 'faith'. Are you sure you even know what faith is?

Faith is not insurance! It does not mean that in every crisis we should declare unequivocally that we are certain that miracle and rescue await just around the corner. We are not prophets, the Chazon Ish reminds us. And without prophecy—there is no way to know the future. How can we claim to know that there will be a cure, salvation, or a lottery win? Only Hashem knows the future, and He doesn’t reveal it to us.

So what is faith then? "The trust that nothing in the world is coincidental, and all that occurs under the sun is all by declaration of Hashem".

Nothing is coincidental: we are watched over at every moment. A person does not fall 'by chance' or suffer a heart attack 'by chance'. A house does not burn 'by chance'. A car does not break down 'by chance'. Layoffs do not occur 'by chance'. It is not that blind fate played with dice and somehow one got a six and another a one. Hashem manages the world. He sends us our trials and the strength to cope with them.

So what? Should a person who has fallen ill and the doctors grimly look at him just lay in bed and quietly wait for his end? No. Even if the doctors give him a ninety percent chance to die within a month, they do not have the gift of prophecy either. All they can provide is statistics. Will it apply to him? Maybe, but maybe not. Because another side of faith is knowing that Hashem is all-powerful. As Hashem said to Moses Rabeinu in the desert when he wondered from where he will provide sixty myriad people with meat: "Is My hand too short?"

The hand of Hashem is never too short. There is nothing He cannot do. The great trial of faith is to believe at every moment that Hashem can bring salvation, while fully accepting that whatever happens will come from Hashem. When we strengthen our faith and trust, we first of all accept Hashem’s will: What will happen, will happen because that is Hashem’s desire. However, we fully believe that with Hashem all options are open. He can turn distress into salvation in an instant, and it is certainly possible and right to pray for salvation. But it is also important to remember, as Racheli Frenkel, the mother of the abducted boy Naftali Frenkel HY"D, expressed so poignantly: "The Holy One, blessed be He, does not work for us; we work for Him".

Even after understanding what faith truly is, what true trust is, there is still a question that bothers many. But why did a miracle happen to him? What makes him better than me? Does Hashem love him more?

Of course, no one can provide the answer for every specific case. The hidden things are for Hashem our God. But it is worth mentioning that Hashem’s considerations are not our considerations. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not My ways," says the Book of Isaiah. In our small human minds, we may think that someone who experienced a miracle and recovered 'received a reward', while one who passed away amid prayers and faith, 'received a punishment'. But anyone familiar with Talmudic literature knows there is no misconception greater than this. According to Judaism, premature death can result from a series of reasons: the result of previous incarnations, the completion of a mission in this world, the merit of dying sanctifying Hashem’s name, atonement for the generation... and this is just a partial list.

And what is true regarding illnesses is true for all other difficulties and troubles one may encounter. Hashem manages His world according to His plan to bring the world to its perfection. Given that we did not create the world and sustain it every moment, what chance do we have, exactly, to understand this plan?