God helps those who....

It's time to put this thing to rest once and for all about how to get God's help. With this question, there can only be one answer (well, according to what God says anyway). Fill in the blank for the following sentence:

"God helps those who ____________"

a. help themselves
b. admit they need help

What was your answer? If it was "help themselves," I'm sorry, but you lost the game. It's a cute cliche, I've got to admit, but it's simply wrong. I can hear the defense now:

"But Tamara! That's all I've heard all my life. It's what I was taught by mom, friends, and even teachers. I can't be wrong on this! I mean, come on, everyone knows that God helps those who help themselves."

Really? Well, let's not take my word for it. Who am I anyway? I'm not the author of truth. That would be blasphemy, in fact. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (see John 14:6) So before throwing stones at the messenger, you might want to pick up those stones against Jesus (though I wouldn't recommend it) who is The Truth!

Throughout the entire Bible, we see one theme of who God helps, but since you would be reading this blog for three days just getting through all the verses, I've condensed them down to only ones from the Psalms. Let's then look at what the Bible (not Tamara!) says:

"In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears." (Psalm 18:6)

"O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me." (Psalm 30:2)

"Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. (Psalm 33:20,21)

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles." (Psalm 34:17)

"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words." (Psalm 119:44)

We haven't read anything close to "God helps those who help themselves."

Let's review. Who does God help?

From the verses above, we see those who call upon Him in their distress, those who wait upon Him expectantly, whose heart (inner self) is joyful about Him, who trust Him, who rise up and cry to Him, who are humble, sorrowful for the sins committed against Him, who have the fear of the Lord. Do you see what I see? It has nothing to do with us, but it's all about Him!

Here's a verse that might explain this modern day cliche of God helping those who help themselves:

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!" (Isaiah 31:1)

in modern times, we might say something like this, however:

"Afflicted and judged are you who rely on help from mere man instead of God, people who trust in their own resources to help them instead of looking to their Creator God and ask for help from Him!"

Makes sense, doesn't it? If we go looking inside ourselves or to other sinful human beings (yes, that's all of us) instead of the One who created us, He basically is saying:

"Fine! You want to suffer? Go ahead. Your sin of pride will get you into deep trouble and if you die in that sin, you will also end up in Hell. But have it your way. Turn to the left and to the right looking for help in your time of need. I'm not there. I'm here for the humble who turn to Me for the help they need."

The Psalmist asked:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from?"

His answer:

"My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1)

He also says:

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18)

And Isaiah aids us in what kind of person receives God's help:

"this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)

Maybe it's time we dump the cliche, "God helps those who help themselves" and go back to the Author of Life, Jesus Christ, who is our only help.

A few more verses for meditation on this subject:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

"And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."" (Mark 2:16,17)

Lest we forget and try to boast about being Christians, remember God is the one in charge of salvation. He chose the foolish things in this world, which include you and I!

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."" (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

- Tamara Slack