Episode 1057: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1057 of the inspired stewardship podcast. Hi,

[00:00:07] Marnie Swedberg: this is Marnie Swedberg and I'm here to challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, talents and treasures to live out your God-given goals.

[00:00:18] Understanding biblical success principles is a great starting point and for ongoing inspiration and encouragement. Listen to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott, Matt.

[00:00:28] Scott Maderer: and knowing the difference between passive faith and active faith is important. Whenever you recognize that God helps those who help themselves, God helps those who can't help themselves. And God helps all of those in between those two extremes as well. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:57] If you truly desire to become the [00:01:00] person who God wants you to. And you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:19] And today's spiritual foundation episode about investing in yourself. I talked with you about this phrase. God helps those who help themselves and where it's found in the Bible. I also talk about why there is a half-truth buried in the phrase, and I share why knowing when this applies and when it doesn't is so important.

[00:01:38] One of those expressions that I hear all the time. Around the church and around people of faith is God helps those who help themselves. In fact, I've often seen that as if it was something that's found in the Bible. Now I have a joke for anything that people think is found in the Bible. That actually [00:02:00] isn't, I always say it's in second hesitations because.

[00:02:04] That must be where it is because I can't ever find that particular book in the Bible. It's a Phantom scripture. It's one of those things that goes back to a Puritan mindset and a belief of self-start and taking care of yourself. It's a very Western American kind of concept, but in fact, it's not really found in screen.

[00:02:28] Oftentimes this phrase is thoughts. Trace back to Ben Franklin from poor Richard's Almanac in the 17 hundreds or algebra on Sydney from the late 1690s had a, an article where a phrase like this comes from it. And even ASAPS fables and these sorts of things, there are statements of the God's help, those who help themselves.

[00:02:57] So regardless of where you think it came [00:03:00] from, it is one of those things. Is a half-truth, it's one of those things that has some truth to it. There's some truth buried in the phrase. And yet at the same time, it's not truthful either. The truth is we are accountable for being obedient. And in that obedience, we are accountable for having activity, but the harm is.

[00:03:27] It promotes the idea that all we need is ourselves. All we need to do is help ourselves. The everyone gets to where they go based purely on their own merits, what they do. The self-help trend has a negative connotation because there's an idea sometimes that all you got to do is do it by yourself.

[00:03:52] If you can't do it by yourself then your at fault, you're a failing. There's something wrong with you because that's how [00:04:00] everyone else got to where they're at. And yet the truth is we all have help from others. Even the people that say they had none. That connection, that community, that relationship has power.

[00:04:13] We want to save ourselves. We want to be the person that earned our way into heaven, that earned grace that got something that we did that got us to where we are. And that is pride that has within it. A sin of pride fullness. We convince ourselves that we know best. We convince ourselves that we know what we should do, that we are the ones that can do it, and that we don't need anyone, including God.

[00:04:49] In fact, if you look throughout the Bible, you'll find example after example of God, helping, not those who help themselves, but rather God helping [00:05:00] those who can't. Help themselves, those who are mistreated, those who are orphans, those who are foreigners, those who are aliens in a foreign land, those who are downtrodden.

[00:05:15] In fact, that's part of the message of the Bible is turning that thing on its head and looking at it in a different way. And in fact, that is who God helps. Not just those who help themselves, but those who can't help themselves because God is available there to help anyone who truly needs it and ask for it and depends upon it and looks to God first.

[00:05:48] It's important to realize that this truth of you should take action and you should do something and you should work. And you should earn and [00:06:00] do and take action because the truth is if somebody comes over and says, I need you to help me move a piece of furniture and then they just stand around and watch you move it.

[00:06:12] You'd probably get a little miffed. And there's that same idea here. I think sometimes we depend upon faith and say God will take care of it for me. And yet God is up there going. Yeah. But. Actually take some action and do something to give me the opportunity to help you. God can make a cook duck flying through your window when you're hungry, but that doesn't usually happen that way.

[00:06:40] Instead, usually it comes out of taking action and asking for help from others as well as God, as well as yourself, again, back into that idea of community and relationship. So knowing the difference between having faith that God will help [00:07:00] you while still taking action to allow that help to manifest itself.

[00:07:05] That's the important newness of this understanding that God helps all of us, those who can, and those who can't help themselves, but only. Through the action of community and relationship and connection with each other and with God, does that help manifest itself and knowing the difference between passive faith and active faith is important.

[00:07:34] Whenever you recognize that God helps those who help themselves, God helps those. Who can't help themselves. And God helps all of those in between those two extremes as well. Thanks for listening.

[00:07:53] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we [00:08:00] challenge you to not just sit back and passively. But act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoy this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark.

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