DEUT399 And one must trust in the Blessed God to give him prosperity in his work and his affairs and not trust in his labors and exertions themselves, but regard them rather as a means of deriving his sustenance from the Blessed God. This is comparable to a man's splitting wood with an axe. Though it is the axe which splits the wood, the power does not come from the blade but from the man who wields it to split the wood, the blade being merely the instrument of cutting. If a man has a certain occupation or a certain business by which he provides for his family, let him not think: If not for that occupation I would be lost; but let him trust in the Blessed Creator and think that if he did not have this manner of gaining a livelihood, the Blessed Creator would provide for him in some other way. For all that he does and the satisfaction of his needs are in the hands of God, and Hashem has many messengers, as it is written (I Shemuel 14:6): "For there is no restraint upon Hashem to save by many or by few," and [this verse]: " For it is He who gives you the power to succeed," and (Zechariah 4:6): "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says Hashem of Hosts."