"Ya'akov sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esav, to the land of Se'ir, the field of Edom." (Gen. 32:4)

Rashi interprets: "Jacob sent messengers" to mean literally angels.

Realize that there is a Divine Rachamim/compassion which is revealed and a Divine compassion which is concealed. Certainly even within the attribute of din/judgment is an inner core of Compassion, but it is concealed and shrouded in the Judgment. Our spiritual work is to lead our lives in such a way to awaken within G‑d the desire to remove this veil and to allow His compassion to flow unimpeded into the world. How can we affect this Divine awakening?

Observe that in the Torah it is written, "you shall love G‑d your G‑d with all your hearts" means with both sides of our human nature, the good and evil inclinations. So to fulfill G‑d's will we should not only be using our desire to goodness but also our evil inclination. Note that it does not say with all of your "heart" in the singular, for we cannot do this with fear alone; we need to use the evil inclination to divert its energy toward goodness. How can we do this? By realizing that the fate of all of Creation depends on what we do in this life, and by knowing that all actions we take below awakens correspondingly on high.

...G‑d's actions are predicated on our actions, like a shadow which follows our movements. If we improve our ways, we bring tikun/repair to all the worlds. But if G‑d forbid we do the opposite, we then damage both above and below...When we realize this, we will not rest even for a split-second in our strategy to subdue the evil inclination until it submits itself to serve only to fulfill G‑d's wishes. When this internal integration is accomplished, it will arouse within Gd the desire to bestow upon us only revealed compassion by stripping away all of the kelipot/"shells" [impure forces] which obscure His compassion.

Our spiritual work is to...allow His compassion to flow unimpeded into the world.

How can we do this? "Messenger/angel" in our verse alludes to the level of thought as mentioned by the holy Arizal of Tzefat--Kedushat Keter, where angelic messengers are at the level of chochma and bina. If we can be aware of "Esau" — the evil inclination within us — it can be transformed into a "brother" and we can do what G‑d wishes for us to do in our lifetime, with both of our inclinations.

When we have fear/awe, we desire to bond with our Creator...

How is this possible? We are told further in the verse, "to the land of Se'ir," as artza [to the land] is the language of desire (ratza). And Se'ir relates to sha'ar/gatelike qualities within our soul, related to Yirah/fear. When we have fear/awe, we desire to bond with our Creator, which increases our Yirah.

And what path are we to follow? "Field of Edom." Field hints to malchut/sovereignty (the Holy Apple Orchard) and Edom speaks to us of the Upper World. With this, we will be brought to the realization of how we embody the level of malchut, because Heaven and Earth will confirm to His laws. We will also be brought to the level of "Esau his brother"; the evil inclination is joined in the service toward G‑d so He will remove the kelipot/obscurations and harsh decrees.

[Adapted from an excerpt of Kol Elimelech: the Voice of Rabbi Elimelech Shapira - Chasidic Wisdom for Our Time
by Paul Shleffar, as submitted by Rahmiel-Hayyim Drizin]

Biographical note:
Rabbi Elimelech Shapira of Grodzhisk (1823 – 1892), son of the Rebbe, R. Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira of Mogelnitz, was the great-grandson of both the Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk and the Koznitzer Magid, and the son-in-law of the Meor v’Shemesh. He became a leading Chasidic rebbe of his time in Poland, with his Chasidim eventually numbering ten thousand. His teachings are collected in Imrei Elimelech and Divrei Elimelech, considered major works of Chasidic thought. His son and successor was Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Aish Kodesh of the Warsaw Ghetto.