Dealing with Difficulty

Question:

I find myself in a very difficult situation. Will I be able to overcome my problems?

Answer:

You haven't told me what the troubles are and I respect your wish to keep that to yourself. Working in the dark, all I can give you then is the counsel that our sages gave long ago--and since they are sages of Torah, their advice stands for every situation for every person.

The sages of the Mishnah taught us that "according to the camel is the load." G‑d knows His camels--He made them and He leads them through life. He knows just how much each one can take and He doesn't load any one up with anymore than he can handle

These are not problems you are having. These are loads. A camel driver loads his camel because something needs to be done with that load. The same with you--you are put in this world to accomplish certain missions and you are given exactly the load that your soul is meant to handle, no less and no more.

There is one difference, however: When the camel driver loads the camel, his interest is in the merchandise, not the camel. G‑d's principal interest is in your soul. In this way, the load he gives you is more like the weights a fitness coach might wrap on your wrists and ankles--not to slow you down, but on the contrary, to make you stronger and faster.

So too, think of G‑d as your personal trainer and these "problems" as the hurdles He is putting you through, only in order that you can go higher and higher, to a level to which you could never have imagined yourself.

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman for Chabad.org