In my family, we are early risers. By 5 a.m., my husband and I are up and about, usually with at least one or two kids to accompany us. A few Fridays ago was no different; by 5:15, I was already kneading my challah dough. I went to the bathroom and automatically took my glasses down from the shelf to put them on. Wow! They were so cloudy. I proceeded to clean them. I put them back. Wow. Still so cloudy. I couldn’t even see through them! My husband watched me.

“Here, give me your glasses, you don’t know how to clean glasses!” he told me—he has more thanI couldn’t even see through them! 30 years of glasses-wearing expertise. He took them and cleaned them.

I put them back on. “They’re still so cloudy! I can’t even see.”

“Maybe your prescription changed?” My husband questioned.

“In 24 hours? Impossible!”

I tried cleaning them one more time and then gave up. “I can’t deal with this! They are so blurry! It’s giving me a headache!” I put the glasses aside.

Fast forward to 11 a.m., nearly six hours later ...

I looked up at the clock to see what time it was and realized, “Wow, I can really see the numbers so clearly.” Then it hit me. I was wearing my contact lenses. I’ve never done this before, but I must have forgotten to take them out the previous night when I went to sleep. My little morning episode of cleaning the glasses came back to me, and I broke out into uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down my face. No wonder why my glasses were blurry; I had put them on with my contact lenses.

What did I learn from this lense-cleaning episode? Sometimes, trying to see with too much clarity can actually blind you ...

I work as a reflexologist and a massage therapist for women in all stages of life. The other day, a woman came to me who was undergoing fertility treatments. She looked so stressed, so exhausted, so emotionally and physically drained. As I tried to pour as much love as I could into my massaging touch, she told me how her doctor would only perform the IVF treatment that she had started if the endometrial lining of her uterus was at least 5 mm. She felt like her entire world depended on the measure of her lining.

I looked at her and saw the pain in her eyes, and I told her what I am going to tell you. There is NO limit to what G‑d can do. The only limitations are the ones that we create (by not actually believing). G‑d created the world in such a way that when you believe in something, you give it power. As the sages teach, “The rains are only brought down because of the masters of faith [ones who believe].”1 The commentators explain that the masters of faith are those who believe in G‑d and plant their seeds (with faith that G‑d will send the rains). When you believe in G‑d, who is infinite and can do anything, you bring that power down from above.

If a person thinks that with all of modern technology, man has more control and knows more, then he is mistaken. It’s like the glasses and the contact lenses—too much, too many lenses, actually blurs the vision and limits our capacity to see because it distances us from truly believing that G‑d can make anything happen.

After going to the bathroom, there is a very powerful blessing one recites. This blessing—which consists of 45 words that correspond to the numerical value of the word adam (“man,” as in mankind)—says as follows:

Blessed are You, L‑rd, our G‑d, King of the universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollows (cavities). It is obvious and known before Your Throne of Glory that if but one of them were to be blocked or if one of them were to be ruptured, it would be impossible to survive even for a short period of time. Blessed are You, G‑d, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.

The first thing that jumps out at me when I say this blessing are the words “Who formed man with wisdom.” When a person begins to contemplate the awesome wisdom involved in all the processes of the body—whether it be, for example, digestion and excretion, or conception and pregnancy—one is thoroughly humbled. There is so much G‑dly wisdom in the body that we humble spirits don’t understand.

Then comes “It is obvious and known before Your Throne of Glory ... ” It is “obvious and known” to You, G‑d—You can see and know everything. I, even with all of modern technology, cannot see or know everything. You choose what You want me to see and choose what You want to remain hidden.

At last, I end the blessing with “Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously,” and here, here is the key, because asThese very tools can also harm us! much as I think that I know, as much as I think I can control, as much as I think that I can do, ultimately, G‑d is the One who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.

In this world, we are given tools, many of them. We have medicines and machines; we have diets and therapies. All these tools, they are given to us to help us, like glasses for poor vision. These very tools can also harm us and limit us when they distance us from believing in G‑d.

When a person says, “This technology tells me everything there is to know about how the body functions, and I can therefore manipulate all of its functioning,” he is actually limiting his body’s capability to heal—limiting G‑d’s capability to heal and perform miracles. Believing that you can see and control everything will make you lose sight that, ultimately, G‑d is the Healer. He sees everything and knows everything, and He wants us to turn to Him, to believe in Him, to plant the seeds in preparation for the rains and blessing to come.