In Eretz Yisroel we read this week the Parsha of BeHar, which discuss the laws of the shemittah, sabbatical year. The laws of shemittah required the land owners to basically leave their fields' owner-less and unattended, for an entire year. It was forbidden to work and harvest the land and crops. This only applies in the Land of Israel and as we have moved to more advanced economies that are not nearly as dependent on agriculture the financial stress this puts upon the community is not as great as it used. This reality makes it seem to to most of us that this mitzvah is not "a big deal". But imagine that we put it into our own terms. Imagine you own an apartment building and rent out the apartments to tenants. The rent is the source of your income and livelihood. Now imagine that you are told once in seven years, you can't take rent, you have to let the people live there for free, you can't charge. Or imagine you own any other kind of business and you have to close shop for a year and not tend to your business interests, this would be a tremendous test of one's commitment and trust in G-d. The sefer HaChinuch explains that this is the purpose of Shemittah. Stop everything, no working and leave it all for a year. During this year G-d promises to sustain us by making sure the crops before and after are more profitable. The point is for us to realize even during the years when we are working, our success is not a function of our work but because of G-d's Desire for our sustenance. Without G-d all of our work would be fruitless. How many people do you know who are smarter and harder working than you are but never seem to be able to "make it" they are always struggling financially? How is it possible? The answer is simple because hard work and smarts etc. doesn't mean success, the only real factor in success is in G-d's Desire for us to have sustenance.
Although shemittah, may be less applicable to most of us, we have a mini-shemittah every week which we call Shabbas. Although it is already part of our culture that people are off of work on Saturday, this still proves to be a very big test for many people who have their own businesses or people who need to work late on Friday afternoon's. How many people have been in the middle of important work in which they could profit handsomely, yet they leave everything when Shabbas comes in. This helps a person realize that the real success in any venture depends on Hashem's Will. Therefore by following His Will, there is no reason a person will lose out. Each and every week we can take off work, turn off the phone and computer and focus on the fact that all of our work doesn't bear fruit unless Hashem wants it to, we won't miss anything!