Providence Above Nature For Yir'ei Hashem

במדרש ויהי רעב בארץ עין ה' אל יריאיו כו' פי' כי יש הנהגה מיוחדת ליראי ה' מאתו ית' למעלה מההנהגה הטבעיות

In the Midrash on "And there was a famine in the land" (Bereishis 12:10): "The eye of Hashem is upon those who fear Him" (Tehillim 33:18), etc. — meaning that there is a special mode of conduct for the yir'ei Hashem (those who fear Hashem), from Him, may He be blessed, above the natural order.

The Sefas Emes explains that those who possess yiras Shomayim are governed by a unique Divine providence that transcends the laws of nature.

ולכן טרף נתן ליריאיו בעוה"ז יזכור לעולם בריתו בעוה"ב

And therefore, "He gives sustenance (teref) to those who fear Him" in this world; "He will remember His covenant forever" in the World to Come.

The verse (Tehillim 111:5) is read on two planes: physical provision in olam hazeh, and the eternal covenant in olam haba.

והוא כענין השבת דכתיב ויברך את יום השביעי וכתב בזוה"ק כיון דלא אשתכח בי' מנא מה ברכתא אשתכח בי' אלא כולהו ברכאין בשביעאה תליין כו' שהוא שורש הברכות לכן אינו ניכר בעוה"ז הטבעיי

And this is like the matter of Shabbos, of which it is written, "And He blessed the seventh day" (Bereishis 2:3); and the Zohar writes: since no manna was found on it, what blessing is found in it? Rather, all the blessings depend upon the seventh — for it is the root of the blessings, and therefore it is not discernible within this natural world.

Just as the source of all blessing rests in Shabbos even though no manna fell on it, the truest blessing lies above nature and so is not openly visible in this world.

וע"ז כתיב כתפוח כו' שאין לו צל ובצלו חמדתי וישבתי

And concerning this it is written, "Like an apple tree," etc. (Shir HaShirim 2:3) — which has little shade — yet "in its shade I delighted and sat."

The apple tree casts scant shade, like the hidden, above-nature blessing; yet the yarei Shomayim takes shelter and delight specifically in that subtle, concealed shade.

ולכן עבר על אברהם בעוה"ז כל אלה הנסיונות לפי שהי' נמשך אחר הנהגה עליונה למעלה מן הטבע

And therefore Avraham underwent all these nisyonos (trials) in this world, because he was drawn after the supernal conduct that is above nature.

Avraham's hardships, beginning with the famine, came precisely because he lived by the higher, above-nature providence rather than the ordinary natural order.

וכן הי' כל זרע ישראל שעפ"י הטבע והמזל לא הי' לו בנים וא"ל צא מאצטגנינות שלך והעלה אותו למעלה מן המזל וא"ל כה יהי' זרעך כו'

And so it was with all the seed of Yisrael: for by nature and the constellation (mazal) he was not to have children, and He said to him, "Go out from your astrology" (Shabbos 156a), and He raised him above the mazal, and said to him, "So shall be your seed," etc. (Bereishis 15:5).

Avraham was naturally destined to be childless, but Hashem lifted him above the mazal entirely, so that Bnei Yisrael's very existence stems from a place beyond the natural order.

והאמין בה' ויחשבה לו צדקה פי' שהבין והשכיל כי צדקה וחסד הוא מה שאין לו בנים בדרך הטבע רק למעלה מן המזל כמ"ש בצלו חמדתי כו':

"And he had emunah in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (tzedakah)" (Bereishis 15:6) — meaning that he understood and discerned that it was tzedakah and chesed that he was not to have children in the natural way, but only above the mazal, as it is said, "in its shade I delighted," etc.

Avraham's emunah was to recognize that his very inability to have children naturally was itself a kindness — it placed his offspring above nature, rooted in the same hidden, above-nature blessing of Shabbos and the apple tree's shade.

Summary: Those with yiras Shomayim are governed by a special providence above nature, whose blessing — like the root-blessing of Shabbos and the slight shade of the apple tree — is real but not visible in this natural world. Avraham's trials and his natural childlessness flowed from his living by this higher order; his emunah was to recognize that being lifted above the mazal was itself a chesed, the source of Bnei Yisrael's existence beyond nature.