There's an old Yiddish saying: Mentch tracht un Gut lacht - man makes plans and G-d laughs. Every so often, we plan and look forward to something exciting and important, only to see our plans fall through due to circumstances beyond our control. A canceled flight, catching the flu the day a vacation trip begins and sometimes a more severe misfortune.
How do we react? Well, there are times when our faith dominates, and we gracefully accept G-d's plan. We remain calm and at ease despite the proverbial spoke put in our wheel. Other times, though, we may be less inclined to merely accept the reality, we become angry, protest ("Why me?") and deeply resent the situation. It can take a while for us to "get over" it.
The first approach seems to be the nobler one.
In this week's Torah portion, Moses is sent on his first Divine mission. Moshe approaches Pharaoh requesting that he let our people go. Not only does Pharaoh not concede, but as a result of Moshe's petition, the slave-labor only intensifies and the situation for the Jews goes from bad to worse. Moshe can't accept this, he stands up and protests to G-d: "Why have You harmed these people? Why have You sent me?!"
This response is in stark contrast to how the Patriarchs and Matriarchs dealt with their challenges; we don't find them complaining or protesting. Was this a failing on Moshe's part? Did he simply lack faith?!
No. There's a fundamental difference between Moshe's story and those that preceded him. Here Moshe was protesting for his fellow's tzoros, a misfortune of another person. And he teaches us a beautiful lesson: In my personal life, it may be a noble ideal to accept a challenge or a shattered dream with simple faith. But when it comes to another's pain, we should never look to merely accept it. We must believe that another is never worthy of Divine judgment. Take the cue from Moshe, and act and protest on their behalf.
Exercise your faith in your own life story, not your friends!