A Voice in the
Wilderness
Re: God helps those who help themselves
TRIVIA QUESTION:
The expression, "God helps those who help themselves" is found in the
Bible? true/false?
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READER COMMENT:
Oh, God helps those that help themselves is not in the Bible, otherwise we wouldn't need grace.
READER COMMENT:
False, I won't do a word search but all over the bible we're taught to
put our trust in the Lord and wait for his deliverance. So, to help
ourselves gives the idea of self power and contradicts our own inability
or weakness.
READER COMMENT:
This 'passage' is not found anywhere in The Scriptures. It 'lives' in
the heart of man. It is an attempt on the part of man to receive
congratulations, a pat-on-the-back, an 'attaboy' from fellow hearers.
It says, "Look at me! I worked very hard, got up early to toil every
day, deprived myself of this and that, put my nose to the grindstone,
did things perfectly, sometimes ruthlessly, ran over a few people on the
way but in the end....well, the Lord saw my wonderful efforts and my
true perfection and sprinkled fairy dust down on me to make me glitter
for you - aren't I just grand!?" They are 'hoisted' by pulling their own
rope.
READER COMMENT:
That phrase is nowhere to be found in the bible. It came from Greek
mythology. It is found in one of Aesop's fables, as a quick search on
google revealed to me.
READER COMMENT:
This quote is not found in the Bible. I did not know that it came from
Aesop's fables though. An interesting site concerning the quote listed
above. Note: (11/30/05) The link has changed since this was first posted, so it appears to no longer be available; so it has been removed from this file.
[VW: For perspective: Aesop was of the 550BC generation, around the time of Jeremiah, and Judah's exile to Babylon by Nebuchadnezar, the three in the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezar being turned into a beast for seven years, etc. also: The time of Buddha and Confucious. :VW]
The fable from which the quote comes:
-
"A Wagoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way.
He came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way
into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank
the wheels. So the Wagoner threw down his whip, and knelt down
and prayed to Hercules the Strong. 'O Hercules, help me in this
my hour of distress." But Hercules appeared to him, and said:
'Man, don't sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the
wheel. The gods help them that help themselves."
VW ANSWER:
False
Actually, what the Bible teaches is that God's help comes in the context of our own total IN-abilities. Salvation came when "we were without strength, in due time Christ died for" us. (Rom5:6) When Jesus asked the man if he had faith sufficient to heal his boy, he replied back "..with tears, Lord I believe! Help my unbelief!" (Mk9:24) David's confidence in battle was not his own skill and might, but rather, "He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me." (Ps18:17)
We do not do for ourselves, but it is "...in Him we live and move and exist..." (Ac17:28) because "..He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." (Col1:17) As Believers we do not set a course for ourselves, and then pray, asking God's help as we ask Him to "go beside us"...but rather, we humbly ask, "what do You have in mind for me to do?" (ac9:6)
