Often considered dogmatic, much thought has been given over the millennia to the idea and inherent paradoxes and implications of God’s quality of omnipotence, כל יכול (kol yachol). We ask in Avot (5:1) why God took ten sentences to create the world since He could just have easily accomplished this with a single utterance. While the Mishna gives a rather cryptic answer about reward to the worthy and punishment for the wicked, the idea I want to explore is the assumption that God could have created any situation He might choose but has created things just the way they are.

Rather than looking backwards and attempting to second-guess The Creator, a task we’ll always fail at, the real opportunity comes when we realize that our life-situation, at every single moment, is essentially determined so we can ask, “What do we do now?”. “How did I get here?” and “What did I do wrong?” are largely unproductive narcissistic rhapsodies, tempting as they are for many of us. The real questions are, “What does God want me to learn here? What opportunities to draw closer to Him and to perform my unique duties are now available to me?”

God rarely speaks to us in linguistic terms, but He is always speaking to us through the experiences of our lives.