The Real Reason | Rabbi Fischel Schachter

So when the house was full of kids, my job was to take them out Erev Shabbos, so the older kids can finish up over here for Shabbos. So I used to have this thing, I had this big Chevy Astro, and I would say: The car has to take a shower לכבוד שבת. So I took the kids to a car wash. Car washes are very exciting for kids. Really, especially little kids. I mean, if this was an amusement ride in a park, we would stay in line for hours, and a car wash could be a lot cheaper. The kids are really enjoying it. All these monstrous brushes and everything else. I stopped when a kid once opened the door in the middle. That got us we got a personal shower also. But my purpose of the car wash was, you know, the car is going to the Mikveh לכבוד שבת, and it took up time and it was exciting. And once it was pouring, right before I was coming into the car wash. Now, normally, when it pours, they close the car washes, because who wants to pay for a car wash when Hashem is giving the car wash? And here I am, saying: Beep! No, no! He said: But what are you doing the car wash for? I said: I know why I am doing the car wash, okay? Please let me through. He even gave me extra wax then, so I had to pay some more. So a friend of mine told me that you know how it is with golf carts? Kids love to drive golf carts, right? I remember a Bochur in camp. I said: Why did you take the golf cart? He said: It's not my fault. The key was there, the golf cart was there, and a Bochur can’t hold himself back. That's debatable. So a friend of mine told me he had a great idea. There's a golf course. He took his family out to the golf course so they can drive the golf carts. The kids were so excited. Cheaper than the bumping cars. And they start driving and the man comes running after them. He goes: Uh-oh, he's going to start telling me this is not an amusement park. And he says: You forgot the golf clubs. He goes: Oh, right. I'm sorry. Here, give it to me. Right? So the idea is that sometimes we do things not for the reason that people are doing things. Well, guess what? You can be off on a business trip, you can be off on a vacation, you can be off on something you have to take care of for your family, maybe a medical reason for being someplace, but you yourself don't know why you're there. And if you walk into a room and there's something on a screen that you're normally not exposed to, and you turn away from it, and then you continue on with your business, and you come home and you're saying, It did work, I did get the appointment, I didn't get the appointment, I did get the client, I didn't get the client. And in Shomayim, they're saying: No, no, you were there. You did what you were supposed to. The מבי”ט says that we think in our lives we have a problem, therefore we daven. No, because we need to daven, therefore we have problems. Nisyonos are the reason we are here. Somebody once came to Reb Yankele of Pshevorsk. He said: Rebbe, take away my Nisyonos. He says: Do you want to be a bench or a chair? Benches or chairs don't have Nisyonos. This is why you're alive. What are you talking about? This is the reason Hashem sent you here. It says, Not maybe, not if, אשר. Because you can be so frustrated about forgetting the golf clubs. You weren't supposed to take the golf clubs. You were supposed to close your eyes.