Are You Lost In the Forest Of Life?

There was once a young prince who wandered into a nearby forest a little too far from the palace. And at first it felt harmless. A little curiosity, a little independence. What's the worst that could happen? But the trees got thicker and the path got a little narrower and the light started fading. But still, he wasn't worried. He told himself, "I'll turn back soon." but soon turned into hours and hours turned into night. And now the forest wasn't exactly as adventurous as it once was. It was loud and [music] branches were snapping and shadows were moving everywhere. Every sound felt like a threat. And that's when the panic hit. This wasn't just any child. [music] This was the king's son. He was raised in warmth and he was raised in safety. And now he's all alone in a forest, shaking, completely disoriented. And then suddenly he hears a noise. Footsteps, shouting, metal clinking. Someone was running through the trees. The guards. His [music] father's own soldiers sent out an urgency, scouring the forest, desperate to find the king's son. They were close. Rescue was seconds away. But the prince didn't know that. All he heard was chaos. All he felt was fear. [music] And when you're terrified, you don't analyze, you react. So he did the unthinkable. He ran, not towards the noise, away from it, deeper into the forest, farther from the palace, farther from home, until his legs gave out. [music] He collapsed, exhausted, lost, gone, says the BMPto, that prince is us. Every one of us. We are royal souls wandering through a forest called life. A forest that's confusing [music] and loud and overwhelming and darker than we expected it to be. And when Hashem sends a nission, a struggle, a disruption, a painful moment in our lives, we hear the rustling in the trees and immediately we think, "Uh-oh, something bad is happening. I don't know what, but it's bad." and we panic and we spiral and we assume punishment or we assume randomness and we assume Hashem is angry or distant or absent. So we run, we distract ourselves, we numb ourselves, we get bitter, we get cynical, we pull away from growth, from file, from meaning. But we're making the same exact [music] mistake that the prince made because the noise wasn't danger, it was rescue. The footsteps weren't chaos. They were guidance. The messian wasn't sent to destroy you. It was sent to redirect you. Hashem wasn't pushing you away. He was chasing you down. He was trying to bring you back to the palace, back to clarity, [music] back to shepha, back to a life of purpose and holiness that he wants to pour into you. The only thing that ever keeps us lost in life is not the forest. It's the direction we choose to run when life gets loud, when things don't [music] go as planned or when the trees start closing in on us. Don't assume danger. [music] Don't sprint and panic. Because that sound you're afraid of might just be Hashem coming to bring you home. And the choice is always the same. Run deeper into the forest or to turn towards the noise and let the challenges of life lead you all the way back to the palace. A Torah Anytime original series.