In this week's Parsha we read about the passing of Sarah Imenu. Chazal teach us that when Sarah heard that Avraham Avinu took their son Yitzchak to "sacrifice" him on the altar she died from shock. She didn't know that Avraham didn't actually slaughter Yitzchak and she thought that her only son, which she prayed and waited for many years to conceive, was dead. This understanding is difficult to swallow. How could it be that Avraham, after meticulously following the words of G-d and passing one of the greatest tests in history, be met with the tragic death of his wife as a result?

Nevertheless, we see that Avraham doesn't despair and he continues on in his service of G-d. He turns his attention to finding a wife for his son Yitzchak and building the Jewish Nation.  

We are always faced with tests in life and at times we think we have "made it", we have passed the tests, but the truth is that we are placed in this world to constantly withstand tests. We expect that once we have done the right thing, everything will go smoothly many times it does, but there are times when it doesn't. We need to strengthen ourselves like Avraham Avinu and do the Will of G-d, simply because it is the Will of G-d, what happens as a result isn't our business. Sometimes we see the immediate reward for our actions but at other times we are just faced with a bigger test knowing that the ultimate reward for our actions is in the world-to-come. 

May G-d save us from any test, but if we are faced with tests may He give us the strength to overcome.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath