Monday, May 20, 2013

Who Does God Help?

Growing up in the Midwest, it was a common heard phrase, “God helps those that help themselves.” It was in the Good Book, or so my relatives told me. By that they meant it was in the bible. The trouble was I could never find it. I found out later it is a quote that is attributed frequently to Ben Franklin and actually predates Ben… but not in the bible. So who does God help? It is reasonable to ask, because knowing the answer might mean that I could be the person that God helps. That would be great!

In the scriptures over and over again what we see is that God helps those that cannot help themselves. The Psalms, for example, are filled with the Psalmist crying out to God for help when the world is turning in on him. That does not sound like someone helping themselves. The one thing I do see is that we are to trust in God. We are to find delight in His commands, statutes, and precepts. We are to call upon the name of His Son for our salvation and wholeness. So what can we conclude? Well, if admitting that we are sinners, hopelessly lost, and asking for and receiving forgiveness, followed by a life trying to find God’s way everyday, calling out to Him everyday, spending time with Him everyday…if doing those things is called helping ourselves, then God does help those that help themselves. Let’s do our part. Let’s call upon Him today!

Prayer
Father, we call upon You today to reach out and be our ever present help in times of trouble. Show us Your mercy and Your truth today. Help us to walk in Your ways today. In Jesus name. Amen.