Finding Faith in the Chaos: How Struggle Can Bring You Closer to G-d

Rabbi Aharon HaGadol of Karlin famously said: "There is no explicit commandment in the Torah to always be joyful, nor is there an explicit prohibition against being sad. Yet the spiritual levels that joy can elevate a person to, no mitzvah can achieve. And the dullness of heart and constriction of mind that sadness can bring upon a person, no sin can cause."

Fear and Anxiety: A Yetzer Hara, Not a Medical Condition

Sadness and fear that seize a person should not necessarily be seen as a disease, but rather as a temptation of the evil inclination (yetzer hara), aiming to bring him down. Just like the urge to steal, become angry, or speak lashon hara (slander), there exists a form of yetzer hara that pulls a person into despair, imagination, and removes him from simple faith and wholesome living.

Still, it is clear that a person is not expected to rid himself of anxiety and fear as quickly as he is expected to refrain from stealing or getting angry. However, just as one fights temptation through the guidance of Torah and advice from the Sages, so too should one address anxiety and fear with patience, clarity, and wise counsel from a Torah-knowledgeable individual.

Don't Be Discouraged by Mental Turmoil

Don't let the betrayal of time wear down your heart. Time holds no dominion over one who strengthens himself with firm trust and joyful faith. (Yesod HaAvodah, Letter 52)

Don’t Undervalue Yourself

The Kotzker Rebbe taught: "Don’t say, ‘When I have time, I will learn,’ for perhaps you will never have time." Don’t wait to be free of all distractions before serving G-d. Maybe the distractions themselves are part of what G-d wants you to work with—and your service, despite the chaos, is more precious to Him than service performed in peace and quiet.

Confusion and Struggle Are Sometimes the Best Path

The Sefer Shomer Emunim, quoting the Tanya, explains: In the generation before the coming of Mashiach, the ideal service of G-d will often come not from clarity and peace, but from confusion and inner turmoil. For many people, it is precisely this struggle that serves as their soul’s repair more than calm, ideal service ever could.

Even if one feels that the chaos reduces their capacity to serve G-d, if Heaven has determined that this path of limited action but much suffering, is better for your soul, then serve Him from that place. Surrender your will to His, and find meaning in the hardship.

National Exile Reflects Personal Exile

Just as the Jewish people in every exile stumbled and descended spiritually—and yet those very exiles served to refine and atone—so too does each person’s individual hardship refine him. Trust that your suffering has purpose. Believe that, through your turmoil, you may be repairing more than you ever could in peace.

"If Only I Had Peace and Calm..."

Sometimes those plagued by mental distractions feel distant from G-d. They assume they are rejected or broken, and so they give up on even the little they can still do. They may think, “If I were calm, I would serve G-d better”, but they forget that even when they had peace, they often wasted it on meaningless pursuits. Why complain now that peace has been taken?

Instead, consider that it is precisely through your brokenness and suffering that G-d desires you—to draw you closer through a broken heart, in a way you never could achieve in tranquility.

Don’t Waste the Pain

The verse says: "In vain I struck your children; they accepted no correction" (Jeremiah 2:30). G-d says, “I gave afflictions to bring them closer, but they didn’t use the suffering for growth—so it was in vain.”

Suffering is always meant to benefit, to draw us nearer. Though it may seem like pain is pushing us away from G-d, it is in fact a passage, a refinement, a test. Many who endured such times came through them stronger, more refined, and able to inspire others because of the strength they discovered in themselves.

Joy is the Natural Path

“G-d made man upright, but they sought many calculations” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains: “These ‘many calculations’ are the enemies of joy.” Life is simple for the straight and honest soul, but it is man himself who complicates things by deviating from simplicity. That’s why we pray in the High Holy Days: “Avinu Malkeinu, write us in the Book of the Upright and the Simple!”

The path to joy and faith is often not through fixing the chaos, but serving G-d within it.