These Hands of Mine

I have this good friend and we get together to study, talk, discuss and work through the Bible. Recently we have been in Acts and we came across a passage that just keeps surfacing in my thoughts. At the same time another friend comes around and we begin to discuss the phrase, God helps those who help themselves. Many people think that phrase is biblical, but a quick Google determines that it is a quote from Benjamin Franklin. However, the topic became whether this quote has a biblical foundation. It is an interesting topic. When I think of my struggles with faith and my salvation I know and realize I was helpless. So, I really think that from the scriptures we can prove that God helps the helpless.

We see it in Isaiah 25:4
“You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall.”

From Psalm 62:7
7 "My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge."

Also in Romans 5:6
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

So for arguments sake (and to keep this short) let’s agree that God really helps the helpless, but then what about after we have been “helped”? Might God help those who help themselves, might that be the Christian model? I was recently reading in Mathew 9 and came across this passage;

“35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”

And now, we get back to the passage in Acts which keeps coming back to me from Chapter 20.

32"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

So is this our model? With these hands of ours, are we to help ourselves and help others?

Through Christ these hands of mine have been helped beyond description!

Grace and Peace