Shlach תרל”א 2

In the following piece the Sefas Emes explains how to overcome feelings of unworthiness. When a person focuses on the way things appear to be, then he can indeed feel that he is not worthy of the service of HaShem. However when a person changes his focus to the internal mechanism and command of HaShem and presence of the Life Force that He puts in everything, then a person can just connect to that energy and not his own strength. This will automatically make what he does something that has value not because of the person’s self value, rather because of the value that HaShem gives it.

ולא תתורו כו’ עיניכם. ברש”י ב’ מרגלי הגוף כו’.
The heart and the eyes are the “spies” of the body — they act as its agents for sinning: the eye sees, the heart covets and the body commits the sin (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh’lach 15; cf. Talmud Yerushalmi Berakhot 1:8).
וזה דבר גדול להיות נמשך תמיד אחר הפנימיות שלא לתור אל הסתכלות החיצוניות שנראה לעיני בשר כך או כך.
This is indeed a great thing, to be continually drawn to the pnimius the internal mechanism of the world, and not to look and be drawn to the external view of man what appears to be. Whether it is this or that.
רק להיות בטל אל השי”ת להסתכל רק מה שהשי”ת צוה להסתכל.
Rather one should nullify himself (his will) to HaShem and only look at what HaShem has commanded us to look at
והוא חיותו ית’ שיש בכל דבר.
Which is the life force (of HaShem) in everything. (The pnimius)
ובאמת גם חטא מרגלים הי’ חסרון אמונה כמ”ש אא”ז מוז”ל ע”ש.
And the truth is that the sin of the spies was also due to a lack of emuna as the chidushei Harim explained.
כי ודאי הי’ נראה לעיני שכלם שאין בכחם לכנוס שהרי באמת לא נכנסו.
For it definitely appeared to everyone that they were not powerful enough to enter (the land of Kna’an), and as we see they indeed did not enter (at that stage)
אבל אם היו מאמינים ומבטלים הסתכלותם לרצון השי”ת הי’ זה עצמו מסייע להם לצאת מהטבע
However if they would have believed and nullified their own personal “looking” (of focusing on the external and not on the internal), to the will of HaShem, that alone would have helped them to overcome the natural forces of nature!
כמ”ש הקב”ה לאברהם צא מאיצטגנינות שלך כו’ דכתיב בי’ והאמין כו’.
Just as we find with Avraham Avinu that HaShem told him to leave his original concepts and notions of looking into the stars (to see if he will have children), and it later says that he trusted in HaShem
וז”ש למען תזכרו שהוא המשכה ודביקות בחיות הפנימי הרי לא נאמר תזכר אותם. והי’ קאי על המצות כמ”ש ועשיתם.
This is also referred to in the pasuk ‘That you shall remember them’ , which means to be drawn and connected to the pnimius. For it would seem to be difficult) it does not say you shall remember them- which would have been referring to the mitzvos, rather it says You shall תזכרו become a remembrance * .
ויש לפרש תזכרו להיות כל האדם דבוק בחיות הפנימי
Therefore we can explain the word תזכרו, that each person should be connected to the internal life force
וזה ענין זכירה ועי”ז ועשיתם.
This is what rememberance really means (to be connected to thing), and through this you can do
ודבר זה צריך אדם לידע בכל מצוה ועבודה להשי”ת אף שנדמה לעיני בשר כי אין בכחו לגשת ע”י חטא או משפלות עצמו.
This is something that a person needs to realize in every mitzvah that he does or any service of HaShem. That even though it seems that it is humanly not in his strength to approach (the service of HaShem) due to one’s sins or lowliness
כל זה רק מבחוץ והוא עצת יצה”ר.
However this is only from the external view and this is what the Yetzer Hara wants us to believe.
אבל צריך אדם להאמין כי יוכל לקיים כל מצוה בעזר השי”ת.
However a person needs to believe that he can actually do the mitzvah with the help of HaShem
וע”י שיודע שגם חיותו מהשי”ת ונמצא יש לו דביקות בהמצוה כי תורה ומצות הם חיות כל העולם וכ”כ הם חיינו: יי.
Ans through the knowledge that his very essence and life force comes from HaShem and it is present, he has a connection to the mitzvah (that he is performing), because the Torah and Mitzvot are the same very life force of the entire world as it says they are our life (Maariv prayer).