Following the Recipe for a Delicious Life

One day I got a call from my sister.

“I have a great recipe, you must try it!” she told me excitedly. She began to rattle off the ingredients for me to copy down.

“I certainly trust that if you say it’s a good one, then it is!” I replied as I wrote.

“Flour, sugar, eggs, soy milk, ” she began …

“I don’t have any soy milk in the house,” I interrupted. “I’ll just use water instead.”

“Peanut butter? One of the kids is allergic to peanut butter! I’ll just substitute soy butter in its place.”

“Baking chocolate? I never buy baking chocolate - it’s too expensive. I’ll just use cocoa and oil.”

Finally, she burst out, “Well don’t call me when it doesn’t come out good! You aren’t making my recipe at all!”

If you don’t follow the recipe, you can’t trust that it will come out right!

This is true regarding anything for which we don’t follow the instructions.

Sometimes we aren’t able to faithfully follow the recipe, as in the story above.

Sometimes we just don’t pay enough attention to the directions, like the time we built a closet … and nailed the back of the closet to the front!

And sometimes we think it won’t really matter, like the time I adjusted the neckline on the pattern from a v-neck to a crew. It looked great, but I couldn’t get it over my baby’s head!

Whatever the occasion, the rule remains:  
If you change the recipe, you risk that it won’t come out as expected!

Recipe for a Delicious Life

Bitachon means that I trust completely in Hashem. I trust that His recipe for my life is a good one.

But sometimes faith alone is not enough; you must also faithfully follow the recipe!

Hashem has given us an excellent recipe for a meaningful life. By listening to the directions, I can achieve greatness. By following the instructions, I can reach my personal potential.

But if I fail to do my part, how real is my Bitachon? Do I really trust, or is it just lip-service?

Does that mean I can’t have Bitachon if my mitzvah observance is lacking?

Absolutely not!

Hashem does not demand perfection, only effort.

The fact that my mitzvah observance is not up to par or my Bitachon is still less than perfect is not a reason to give up. Though I may have a long way to go, the key factor is setting a goal and genuinely trying to reach that goal. (See Weight Lifting: Practical Bitachon and Baby Steps: Enjoying the Bitachon Process for more on why it’s okay to “do Bitachon” even if I’m not all the way there yet).

The problem is when a person has no interest or intention of following the Torah at all, but conveniently uses Bitachon to support his actions (or lack thereof). In this case, his Bitachon is false, and is really not Bitachon at all.

Hashem sees what is truly in each person’s heart. He knows if you are trying and you really care, or if you’re just a fake.

Do your best to follow the recipe, and then leave the rest to Hashem!