הוא לבדו

Every Shachris shortly before saying the Shema, we say these words in the brocha of Yotzer Hameoros:

"...For He alone is exalted and holy, effects mighty deeds, makes new things, is Master of wars, sows kindness, makes salvations flourish, creates cures, is too awesome to praise, is Lord of wonders. In His goodness He renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation..."

One morning, my attention was drawn to just two words in this tefilla. The words הוא לבדו ("He alone") seemed to be alluding to a teaching found in Degel Machaneh Ephraim that I wrote about earlier this year.

The Degel Machaneh Ephraim taught that a person has not reached the essence of emuna until he believes that absolutely everything is from Hashem. If he receives his support through an intermediary agent, he must understand that this particular intermediary agent is just one of an infinite number of other possible intermediaries that could have been sent to him.

Simply put, a person must understand that absolutely everything that comes his way through the course of his day is from הוא לבדו - from He alone.