"God helps those...

...who help themselves." We've all heard that Bible verse, right?

Well, it may surprise some of us to learn that this common saying is not from the Bible. In a quick Google search, I see one source saying that it is a quote from Benjamin Franklin. I like this page best, where we learn that the saying is from Hezekiah 6:1 - quick, look that up in your Bible. Oh, yeah; there is no book of Hezekiah. ""Yeah! That's from the book of Hezekiah, isn't it?" is the code-word for these kinds of phantom texts."

In fact, I would agree that the saying isn't even Biblical - the Bible teaches that God has a different plan for those who need help.

As the women prepare to return home, I'm wondering how Wendi will have been changed by the experience. Mission work certainly changed my life in many ongoing ways. And after each of my trips, I remember a certain amount of frustration and sense of futility after returning to my country after such a short time working in Latin America. Who will help these people now?

Isaiah 25:4 says of God:

"You have been a place of safety for the poor and needy in times of trouble."
- Contemporary English Version

So, the Bible tells us that God helps those who need Him, those who are weak and can't help themselves.

And, we learn more about those who need help from the acts of the new church, in Acts 4:33-35:

"In a powerful way the apostles told everyone that the Lord Jesus was now alive. God greatly blessed his followers, and no one went in need of anything. Everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles. Then they would give the money to anyone who needed it."
- Contemporary English Version

So, in this we see that first God helped us - "God blessed his followers". And then, we see that the early church members helped each other.

This is made even more clear in Galatians 6:2:

"You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand."
- Contemporary English Version

This is one of the guiding principles for a movement called Medi-Share. These believers have put this into practice by sharing each other's burdens for the increasingly onerous costs of medical care, a concept that I see lived out each day in my work. But, that's an entry for another blog...

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to know compassion, to care for one another. We know that You care for us, even though we are sure we don't deserve the attention of the God of the universe. Thank you for the success of this trip done in Your name, for the transformation that you have started and continue in the Women of Purpose, in the workers from World Concern, and for those who the team has encountered in Bolivia. And, Lord, help each of us to keep a soft heart toward those around us in need, that we may do Your work each day, that we may know that "mission" includes our families, our congregation, our neighbors.

Amen