As discussed many times, our purpose in this world is to grow in our emunah and bitachon. And because this is the main purpose for our existence, Hashem has created a world where much of what transpires around us seems to contradict the perspective of emunah and bitachon, making it difficult for us to succeed and excel in our emunah and bitachon journey. Sometimes we find an exceedingly righteous individual who is praying to Hashem to help them succeed financially in order to serve Hashem better, and nevertheless, this individual remains very poor and completely financially unsuccessful. And at the same time, we sometimes experience individuals who seem to be doing everything wrong, whilst at the same time have been blessed with tremendous financial success. And one can be led to believe sometimes that only because that individual is working so hard have they been blessed with financial success.

Rav Dessler points out a frightening but most fundamental principle that helps us to digest this concept and grow in our emunah in the right direction. Rav Dessler points out that we find in Torah sources that when Hashem loves an individual and because I have done something wrong in my service to Hashem, He decides to make something difficult in my life in order to remind me to do teshuvah, to gain atonement for my sin, as well as to cleanse my slate so that I shouldn't have to suffer the full extent of consequence to this sin in the next world, but rather experience some or all of the consequence in this world. And therefore, much of the time when people suffer in this world, it's only because Hashem specifically does love them and wants to give them an opportunity to come back to Him and also wants to cleanse them in this world. So specifically because of His love, He sends the challenges much of the time.

However, Rav Dessler points out that all this applies to an individual who has some sort of relationship with Hashem. Maybe I'm struggling in my emunah, in my belief in Hashem, but Hashem still loves me and wants a personal relationship with me and therefore gives me constant opportunity to grow in my emunah. However, there is the lowest category, which Rav Dessler points out, where a person has reached such a low level, the antithesis of an emunah lifestyle and an emunah perspective, where they believe that they are the engine that drives their own destiny. And Rav Dessler writes that when this happens to an individual, Hashem, so to speak, removes his own personal involvement in this individual's life and gives him over to become part of the team of the Satan, called the Cheloysav Shel Satan. And what the Satan does at that moment is he makes this individual extremely successful in whatever endeavor he may be dealing with. The purpose of this is because this individual has sunk to such a low place, completely excluding Hashem from their life, believing that they are in complete control, that they in a sense don't have their own purpose anymore, and the only reason for their existence is in order to test other people that exist.

When other people view this individual as such an incredibly successful individual financially or in whatever other endeavor he is being successful in, other people now might be deterred to think that the righteous individual in a similar situation is not being successful, whereas this individual, who is denying Hashem in a sense and believing that he is the master of his own destiny, he is being so tremendously successful. Therefore, one might be enticed to believe that their own efforts are the cause of their success, and I now should invest more into my Hishtadlus believing that I am the master of my own destiny. The only reason that this individual now exists is to test those around him. Are they going to be successful in the life of Emunah and Bittachin? And as Rav Dessler points out, frighteningly, this individual does not have a future, even spiritually, because they have sunk into such a low place. They are now on the side of the satan, and their only reason for existence is to test all of us.

Let us remember that what we see in this world is not the true perspective of what is actually happening. Let us remember the Gemara which teaches us that this world is called an upside-down world, a world of untruth. What we see and experience in this world is very often exactly opposite to how it is manifest in the true world. When we see an individual being successful in a particular field, of course, they might be a very righteous individual, and Hashem is just blessing them, but they might also be an individual who is completely disconnected from Hashem and believing that they are the master of their own success, and now the reason for their existence is only to test other people. We should never be deterred just by what we see around us. “Thank You, Hashem, for teaching me the wisdom of your Torah, your true perspective.”