בטחון בפרנסה

We say in bentching

וְנָא אַל תַּצְרִיכֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, לֹא לִידֵי מַתְּנַת בָּשָׂר וָדָם וְלֹא לִידֵי הַלְוָאָתָם, כִּי אִם לְיָדְךָ הַמְּלֵאָה הַפְּתוּחָה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה

It seems that there are two places where one may possibly procure his "Parnasah". One is  "יָדְךָ הַמְּלֵאָה הַפְּתוּחָה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה" or alternatively there is another possible source and that is "ידֵי מַתְּנַת בָּשָׂר וָדָם". We pray every time we bentch that our sustenance and livelihood will come from God's hand and not from human philanthropy or even loans which is also a form of philanthropy. We ask that we should be able to earn a living. 

Furthermore, we are supposed to have בטחון that God will sustain us. I would posit that בטחון is in relation to earning a living as we see in bentching that livelihood can  come from one of the two, either God or man, but not both. This would suggest that if it comes from man it does not come from God. Of course everything comes from God in a practical sense. However, we ask God to take care of us himself without ud  having to need to come on to another person's philanthropy. Allowing us to earning a living is God's philanthropy. 

I once heard an אברך in Israel discussing how he raised funds to buy an apartment to marry off his daughter. This אברך mentioned how he went to his Rosh Yeshiva asking him what to do. His Rosh Yeshiva told him to have בטחון in Hashem. And he did. Soon after a relative from America bestowed him with the few hundred thousand dollars he needed to buy the apartment. The joke I heard mentioned was that the relative in America's name was "Hashem" seemingly. There is depth to that joke. As mentioned earlier if you have trust in God that you will get what you need from him then you will not need to take charity. Taking charity happens when God does not  grant you the opportunity to earn on your own. Especially interesting is that some  people don't even try. How is that בטחון? Having בטחון in receiving charity seems almost paradoxical.

When one is starving or dying of thirst in the desert there is obviously the element of God sending a person as his messenger and sustaining the dying person even if the messenger is doing a charitable deed. However, this does not diminish the point made above.