Anything man does promotes him toward the purpose of creation. Even the pains we suffer do not come in vain, but are collected, and when the right time comes, they count in our favor. It is a slow progress with man not being a consciously active part of it. In order to shorten this long path of pain, the Creator gave us the Torah, which directs us to the right goal less painfully.
Only in resent decades, once the souls have collected a sufficient amount of pain, a growing number of special souls began to descend to our world, which yearn for the wisdom of Kabbalah. Nothing happens without a reason, but everything finds its own expression through a gradual process.
Courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJNyQfAprY