Losing Money and Finding Peace: A Faith-Based Approach to Overcoming Financial Loss

After one of my lectures, a man shared with me that he had just been robbed of over a thousand dollars. I told him: Reflect for a moment — if this money was truly meant for you, no one could have taken it. If it was stolen, it must not have been destined to remain in your hands.

He agreed, saying, “I accept that this money wasn't meant for me. But I still have a question — if it wasn’t truly mine to begin with, why did it ever reach me at all? Why was it handed to me, as if it were mine, only to be taken away later? Wouldn’t it have been better and more truthful, if the money had never come into my possession at all? This way, I suffered needlessly.”

I replied: Just as the verse says, “God tests the righteous.” The money was given to you temporarily, even though it wasn’t truly yours, to test your faith. The test was whether you would feel deep loss, pain, or regret — and if you would think, “That was my money! I could’ve paid off this debt or that bill. Why wasn’t I more careful?” If those were your thoughts, it’s a sign that your faith still needs strengthening.

If however your inner truth tells you, *“I have nothing to mourn. This money was never mine to begin with. If it were truly meant for me, I would have been able to use it. It was only entrusted to me for a short while, like a deposit. Now the rightful Owner came and took it back” — that’s a sign your faith is genuine and strong.

Even if, in the moment you discovered the theft, you were angry or upset, the test still isn't over. The deeper question is how long it takes you to recover. How quickly can you shift your mind back to faith and inner stillness? The test isn't only about that first moment of pain but also about how long it takes you to return to calm acceptance.

In the future, everything will be revealed in full clarity: that every loss, every trial, every moment of concealment and exile, was all Him. Every single experience, no matter how bitter or confusing, was the direct handiwork of God. As it says, “I, I am the One” — there is no other reality besides God.

When this truth is finally known to all, all darkness will disappear — because in the presence of truth, falsehood has no grip or substance. That moment of realization and awareness of unity, will be the ultimate redemption.

As our Talmudic sages said: “Have you longed for salvation?” (Zohar Chai, vol. 1, p. 86) — For the believers who waited, even through hardship, that moment will be enough.