Finding Peace in Financial Loss: Rabbeinu Bachya’s Teachings on Trust in God

In this essay on Shaar HaBitachon (The Gate of Trust), Rabbeinu Bachya shows us how to preserve joy and inner peace even in situations of financial loss. Through a deep understanding of trust (bitachon) in God, we learn to see our possessions as a deposit from the Creator and to rejoice with our portion in every circumstance. Join us on this fascinating journey as we uncover why it is truly worthwhile to place our trust in God, and how doing so impacts every area of our lives.

Trust and the Fulfillment of Torah

Rabbeinu Bachya explains that trust in God brings great benefit to fulfilling the Torah: “For one who trusts in God, if he is wealthy, will eagerly use his wealth to fulfill his obligations to God and to people, with a willing heart and generous spirit.”

A wealthy person who truly trusts in God gives with joy, using his money to fulfill his duties both toward heaven and toward fellow human beings.

If he is not wealthy, Rabbeinu Bachya teaches, he should see his lack of wealth as a kindness from God: “For through it, he is freed from obligations he would otherwise owe with his money to God and to people, and his heart is spared the worry of guarding and managing it.”

Even financial shortage is for his benefit, sparing him the burdens and anxieties that often accompany wealth.

Rabbeinu Bachya quotes a pious man who used to pray: “May God save me from distraction of the soul.” When asked what he meant, he replied: “That I should not have wealth scattered across rivers and cities.” Abundance can often be more of a burden than a blessing.

The Talmudic Sages said: “The more possessions, the more worry,” and “Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot.”

Wealth as a Deposit

Trust teaches a person not to rely on his riches. Even great wealth does not prevent him from placing his confidence in God, for he views it only as a deposit from the Creator, entrusted to him for a limited time and specific use. “Even if wealth remains with him, he will not grow arrogant because of it, nor expect gratitude from those he gives to, but will instead thank his Creator for making him a means of kindness.”

Unlike many who allow wealth to lead them to arrogance or neglect of God’s will (“Yeshurun grew fat and kicked”), the true believer recognizes his role as merely a steward, and thanks God for the privilege of being an agent of generosity.

How to Respond to Financial Loss

Rabbeinu Bachya outlines five ways a person who trusts in God should respond when he loses his wealth:

1. Do not worry or grieve – Loss of money should not shake his inner peace.

2. Thank God for reclaiming His deposit – Just as he thanked God when given wealth, he thanks Him when it is taken away.

3. Rejoice in his portion – He remains content with what he has, even if it is less than before.

4. Do not hope for others’ misfortune – He feels no jealousy, nor satisfaction when others lose.

5. Do not covet what others own – He does not desire the possessions of others but finds joy in his own share.

Thus he fulfills the verse: “The righteous person eats to satisfy his soul” (Proverbs 13). The righteous one, who trusts in God, enjoys and is satisfied with what he has, seeking no more.

In this teaching, Rabbeinu Bachya illustrates that trust in God grants emotional stability, peace of mind, and gratitude even in times of financial loss. Trust transforms every situation of plenty or lack, into an opportunity to rejoice in God’s goodness, to live with humility, and to maintain true happiness.