It’s Powerful to Always Believe G-d is with You

In the last book in the Torah, Moses gives the first of three speeches to his people, who are about to enter Israel. This speech takes place in the desert in the 40th year on the 11th month, so Moses knows that he will not be entering the Promised Land. So, his time on Earth is about to end.

Imagine that you know you are about to die with no chance to live much longer. You know this with certainty. All of your family is listening for your final remarks. What will you say? These are your last words on Earth, so what do you want to tell your family, your children and your grandchildren. What exactly would you say?’

The battles the Jews won under Moses’s leadership gave him the right to speak candidly to his people about their future. In a similar fashion, if you give advice to family or to anyone else and that advice helps the success that occurs, then you rightly have the authority to provide future advice to the same people who succeeded partly because of you. Your leadership is measured by whether your advice turns out to be useful for another’s success. Advice matters, and it will be judged by the people who follow it.

Moses then makes two additional points. He says that the task of leadership was too great for him alone, so he set up a system of justice by finding others who could take on the task of providing good advice. In the same way, none of us can provide advice on a large variety of subjects, so we have to find advisors for ourselves on topics where expertise is required. In today’s world, we often turn to advisors on all kinds of subjects.

And the second point that Moses makes is that the advisor must be impartial in making a decision. It means that we should provide advice, if asked, with the famous statement: decide “without fear or favor.”

Having decided what to do, Moses tells the people that they should move forward and not question the decision or be fearful that they will not succeed. I see this all the time in my own decisions, often second guessing whether it is the right decision. I even see this in the athletes participating in the Olympics. For them and for all of us, key decisions must be dealt with psychologically. You have to tell yourself again and again that you are doing the right thing and not look back to reconsider what you decided. Second guessing is never good, for it undermines what you have decided. Move forward with confidence. It’s the only way to succeed.

There are two other ways to gain the confidence in your decision. The first way is to review all of the issues that led up to the decision. Go over the history, how it happened and what actually occurred. The more you discuss the history of an issue, the clearer you will see the right path to follow. I like talking about the history of a problem several times before deciding.

The second area to consider in a competitive race is what the competition may be thinking. This applies, for me, in the Texas Hold ‘Em poker that I play. I can win pots by making it look like I have a better poker hand and that is enough to win. In business, appearing to look very competent may be enough to win a contract, even if you know you aren’t as competent as you indicate to others. Confidence is good for yourself, and it often scares the competition.

When you win, you may not win alone. Winning often takes teamwork. And when you win, Moses says to be gracious. Share the joy and the spoils fairly. It makes the winning right for all the winners. And thank G-d for His support.

In the movie, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Edmund Dantes is wrongfully thrown in prison, but eventually becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. However, in prison Edmund meets another prisoner, a priest, and Edmund tells him that he lacks confidence in himself and of ever escaping from prison. He says he doesn’t believe in G-d. The priest says with his dying breath, “You may not believe in G-d, but G-d believes in you.”

As advice for success, it is powerful to always believe that G-d is with you.