Have you ever noticed how the moments that changed you most were rarely the comfortable ones?
The times you grew weren’t when life felt easy — they were when you were pushed, stretched, or forced out of your comfort zone.

That’s how the story of the Jewish people begins — with two words: Lech Lecha.
Hashem tells Avraham, “Go for yourself — leave your land, your birthplace, your father’s house.”
In other words: Leave everything familiar. Step out of your comfort zone.

Avraham was seventy-five years old, settled, respected, and surrounded by comfort. Yet Hashem asked him to leave it all behind.
Not because Hashem wanted to test him — but because He wanted to build him.

Chazal tell us that Avraham was tested ten times. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot teaches that he “stood firm in them all, to make known how great was his love for Hashem.”
The Ramban explains that these weren’t tests to reveal something to Hashem, but to reveal something within Avraham himself.

Each challenge refined him. Each struggle unlocked potential that was hidden inside.
Hashem already knew Avraham would pass — the tests weren’t for Hashem’s knowledge, they were for Avraham’s growth.

Like lifting weights to build muscle, spiritual strength can only develop through resistance.
If life were always easy, we’d stay the same. But Hashem loves us too much to let us stay small.

Avraham’s life was one long “Lech Lecha” — a journey of becoming.
Even his pain had purpose. For years, he and Sarah couldn’t have children. Yet their tefillot, their waiting, their growth through the pain — all of it was shaping them into the parents of the Jewish people.

The message is timeless: Hashem doesn’t test us to see if we’ll break. He tests us to help us build.
Every challenge is Hashem saying, Lech Lecha — go to yourself. Become who I know you can be.

So when life feels uncertain, when you’re being pulled out of comfort into the unknown, remember:
That’s not a setback. That’s Hashem guiding you toward your own greatness.