The saying, ‘God helps those who help themselves’ used to be quite common. Some people think it is in the Bible, but it is not. In fact, believers often argue that it is not a message of the Bible at all. It is always dangerous to believe ideas that are not in the Bible, so how true is it?
The saying seems to originate in 409 BC in a play by Sophocles: ‘heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act,’ although it is unclear that Sophocles believed in divine intervention rather than what he considered the natural forces in life.
The idea appears in the Quran (13:11),and is reflected in an Arab proverb about a man who left his camel untied because he trusted in Allah. He is told, ‘Tie your camel and then trust in Allah.’
There is also a more humorous version: ‘God help those who get caught helping themselves.’
So what of the Bible?
The Bible message is that we are totally dependent on God for everything. The apostle Paul preached that:
‘In him we live and move and have our being
Acts 17:28
God had said:
‘…and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand’
Deuteronomy 32:39
Furthermore, although we have choices in life, God is in control and can thwart our plans.
‘The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps’
Proverbs 16:9
and…
‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that”’
James 4:13-15
King David recognized that his only source of help was the Lord God:
‘My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth’
Psalm 121:2
And it is only when we acknowledge our utter dependence on God that we can be saved.
But there is some truth in the proverb about the camel. We must never test God. Jesus exemplified this in his temptations (Luke 4:12), quoting Deuteronomy 6:16:
‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’
On a different occasion Jesus said that God makes the ‘sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust’ (Matthew 5:45). Notwithstanding this, rather than saying ‘God helps those who help themselves’, it might be more accurate to say that ‘God offers special blessings to those who obey Him.’
The Law of Moses promised this to the nation of Israel.
‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer’
Exodus 15:26
The Bible is full of warnings about laziness and inactivity.
‘The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor’
Proverbs 21:25
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.
2 Thessalonians 3:10-13
And Jesus himself decried inactivity in Matthew 25, especially in a parable involving a lazy servant. His words of warning, about how he will judge believers when he returns, are very severe:
‘You wicked and slothful servant! …Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’
Matthew 25:26-30
True believers do ‘help themselves’ by humbly praying to God for help. They are urged to…
’pray without ceasing’
1 Thessalonians 5:1
So we cannot expect God to help us if we are not trying to live faithful lives, and praying to Him for help. And as part of this we need to have the right attitude, accepting that of ourselves we have no power over anything at all, are totally dependent on God and utterly unworthy of all His blessings and help.