The True Measure of Faith: How Your Spiritual Resilience Shapes Your Future Reward

The Talmudic Sages (Talmud Sotah 48) ask a startling question: “Who caused the righteous to lose their future reward?” The answer? “A lack of faith.” How is that possible? How can a person referred to as “righteous” still be labeled as lacking in faith?

Here lies a powerful spiritual insight: Even the most righteous person can falter, not in action, but in thought. A single fleeting thought can create a distance from the Divine, leaving a person spiritually empty in that moment. Even a tzaddik (a righteous individual) can be caught off guard by a challenge that stirs anger or frustration, toward others, toward family, or toward life itself, and in that emotional lapse, their faith takes a hit. The deeper one’s faith, the less likely they are to be shaken by life’s tests or become bitter toward the way God runs the world.

Faith as the True Measure of a Person

A person with complete faith doesn’t allow doubt to linger. When hardship strikes, they immediately suppress anger or resistance and embrace the situation as coming from a higher place. A person with slightly weaker faith might calm down after a few minutes. Someone with even less might need hours, days, or longer. The speed at which one returns to a place of acceptance is the true metric of their faith.

The stronger the faith, the faster one overcomes frustration, rejection, or feelings of rebellion. The closer that moment of acceptance is to the actual test or hardship, the higher the individual’s spiritual level.

Indeed, every believer eventually comes to terms with hardship and accepts it as part of a divine plan. However, someone with weak faith only reaches that point after the storm has passed. Only then can they say things like “It’s all for the best” or “It’s from God.” But they weren’t strong enough to believe it during the crisis itself. The closer that moment of faith is to the pain, the more whole a person is in their belief.

What Is Expected From Us Today

At the splitting of the Red Sea, the Israelites were required to walk into the water until it reached their necks, before the miracle occurred. That’s the level of faith they were called to.

Today, we’re standing at the edge of the greatest light in human history — the Final Redemption. The miracles of Egypt will pale in comparison. How much more is demanded of us? We’re called to walk even deeper, to sacrifice more, to believe even when everything around us screams darkness.

We’re in the “Fiftieth Gate of Impurity,” a spiritual low unlike anything that came before. Our task is to face it, and still hold on to faith. The level of faith we have now will determine the level of reward we’ll receive in the future.

Your Faith Today Determines Your Future Reality

The Chofetz Chaim writes (Machaneh Yisrael ch. 3) that a person’s entire level in the World to Come will be based on their faith during the challenges they experienced in this life: “The future good, in the time of Redemption, will be given according to the level of faith and spiritual strength a person showed during exile. If they weakened and gave in to despair, they will lose some of their spiritual reward. If they kept strong faith and always believed that everything God does is for the good, their soul will be elevated to incredible heights, and their table (symbolizing their reward) will be full of divine abundance.”

As the Ramchal explains, the ultimate joy of the Redemption will be the revelation of God’s absolute unity, that there is truly nothing else besides Him. When this truth becomes fully known, the illusion of randomness will vanish. Everything we thought was meaningless or accidental will be revealed as part of a perfect plan. The more a person internalizes this during the darkness, the more prepared they will be to experience that joy fully.

The purpose of creation, from beginning to end, is the revelation of divine unity and that there is nothing but God. All of Torah, mitzvot, and life’s struggles are preparation for this moment.

Today’s Struggles Are Tomorrow’s Glory

All those who fought to hold on to faith in times of confusion, chaos, and spiritual darkness and who broke through the illusions of randomness and despair, are full partners in this future revelation.

The deeper the darkness a person endured, the greater their light will be. The more they succeeded in revealing faith from within pain and struggle, the more they will be part of the cosmic healing and unity to come.

Eventually, everyone will see the truth. But those who saw it early and who believed it during exile, through hardship, doubt, and silence, will receive a reward that is beyond comparison.

Everyone has faith. Every Jew is a believer, descended from believers, but not all faith is equal. Some return to faith slowly, over time, while others recover instantly after a test. There are countless levels between.

Each person, according to their personal level of faith and resilience, is a unique and valuable partner in building the future world. Each will receive a reward in proportion to their role. There’s no comparing the joy and reward of one who held perfect faith during darkness to one who wavered and returned later. Both are partners, but not equal.

Don’t Live on Childhood Faith Alone

If a person lives their whole life on childhood beliefs without effort, growth, or renewed clarity, then even decades of mitzvot may not elevate them. As the great Rabbi Yehuda Leib Chasman taught: They may go through the motions but never spiritually rise.

The goal is to refine and deepen our faith and to respond faster to life’s challenges with trust and acceptance. That is the real work, and the measure of a soul ready for redemption.