When a person wants to travel in the
paths of Teshuva, he needs two expertise. He must be an expert in
'running' and 'returning', meaning in the elements of advancing and
receding, which are the concepts mentioned in the verse "If I ascend up
into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are
there." Meaning, it is not possible for a person to do Teshuva unless he
is firm and strong in his mind, that he will constantly serve Hashem
regardless if he is holding on a high level, relative to his stature
where he is in a state 'advancing', in line with the concept of 'If I
ascend up into heaven, You are there' or whether he falls from his level
and is now holding on an extremely low small level, in the pits of
hell, Heaven forbid. Despite this he must not let himself despair and
instead should strengthen himself and grasp on to whatever service of
Hashem he can at that point, in line with the concept of 'if I make my
bed in hell, behold, You are there'. Even in in the lower realms of
Hell, Heaven forbid, even there Hashem exists and is willing to hold a
person's hand, allowing him to come close to Him, even from there. When a
person has these two expertise, then he goes in the paths of Teshuva
and merits the Glory of Hashem and then Hashem's right hands is
stretched to accept his repentance.
(Kitzur Likutay Moharan Hayashon Torah 6 Clause 6)
