Does God help those who help themselves? There’s no such verse in the Bible. Do all good things come to those who wait? Possible interpretation. Does God help only the helpless? We can be so misled but so close to the truth. The answer is yes and no.
If you ask God for patience, it just means you’re going to wait longer. Don’t ask.
Beyond the Simple Question: Divine Intervention vs. Human Effort
God empowers us to act and work towards positive change, rather than passively waiting for divine intervention.
Reference verses:
In a passage from the Apostle James about enduring tough times:
“Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3: 23-24
In a group of wisdom sayings in Proverbs:
“The hand of the diligent will rule, while the lazy will be put to forced labor.” – Proverbs 12:24
In a passage by the Apostle James about being patient in tough times:
“Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” – James 5:7-11
How does it happen? God works through human hands.
The Plays of Waiting: Cautionary Tales of Inaction
Inaction often plays a major role in our thinking and action. Inaction often breeds complacency, allowing problems to fester and worsen. This passive approach can have far-reaching consequences, as seen in recent elections and historical events.
Two plays from the mid-20th century, Waiting for Godot and The Iceman Cometh, vividly illustrate the dangers of inaction. Both plays depict characters trapped in cycles of despair and hopelessness, paralyzed by indecision and a lack of purpose.
In the 1940s, two stage plays became very popular. The British Royal National Theatre, in 1998, voted the French play Waiting for Godot the “most significant English-language play of the 20th century.”
The Iceman Cometh, was called “a harsh and ruthless drama …. one of America’s greatest plays, and it was still playing in 1998.
They both tell us about the horrible consequences of inaction.
Waiting for Godot
The stage play, Waiting For Godot. In the play the characters are waiting by a tree for Godot. They don’t even know if they are waiting at the right tree. They are paralyzed in life’s pursuits until Godot arrives. All they can do is wait.
Some think this is a metaphor for waiting helplessly for God who holds their life and salvation. It expresses the sheer lack of meaning in life. It probably is just existentialism on parade. Life has no deep meaning in existentialism.
The word Godot isn’t a metaphor for God. The play is written in French, and the French word for God is Dieu. But many consider it a metaphor for God.
I avoided much of the European film era that emphasized existentialism. Stories exhibiting a moral impulse, or moral to the story, are much more interesting.
I think of many who point helplessly to God, thinking God has all the power in their lives, when it is actually we who have most of the power if we use it.
What comes to mind is those waiting for Jesus to come again, watching for all the signs, and hoping for a quick escape from destruction. It’s the opposite of what we should be doing.
Have you heard of Native American time? What about God’s time? To God a thousand years is a minute. Shall we wait?
Music: Waiting for the Sun. The Doors.
The Ice Man Cometh
The stage play, The Ice Man Cometh, dips even deeper into the melancholy of helplessness. “The work tells the story of a number of alcoholic dead-enders who live together in a flop house above a saloon and what happens to them when the most outwardly “successful” of them embraces sobriety.”
“The patrons, twelve men and three prostitutes, are dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in one another’s company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They drift purposelessly from day to day,”
Alcoholism is a downward spiral in which people lose friends, family, homes, and eventually everything. They drag helpers down with them. At the bottom they have to decide whether they want to live or die. Faith helps, but they are the ones who have to overcome the disease.
One character wants the characters to cast away their delusions and accept that their heavy drinking and inaction mean that their hopes will never be fulfilled. He is the only one who succeeds.
The futility of Inaction
Both of these plays tell us about the futility of inaction. Whether waiting on others or waiting on God, nothing happens while we languish in wishes and lack of meaning.
Even during spiritual growth, we don’t have all the answers. If we wait for all the answers, we will never begin.
Music: U2 – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.
Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Finding Meaning in a Postmodern World
One of the difficulties with those who, like me, have lived through Postmodern philosophy is that once you deconstruct everything, what is left? Nothing? You can become in a limbo state with no meaning and purpose.
Yet that isn’t the purpose. The purpose is to prune away all that isn’t true to expose what is. Are the grand metanarratives true? Are they illusions, or do they have a kernel of truth in them? People are using this approach to Christianity. Some are left in limbo while others move forward without strings of tradition that bound them.
Most proverbs and parables have a kernel of truth in them, or may be a better way to live than waiting on Godot.
Love, Action, and the Limits of Certainty
We should actively engage in problem-solving and seek solutions, rather than relying solely on divine intervention.
If we love others, will they eventually love us back? Not all. But many will. If we give to the person on the street corner begging for money, will it get them by so they can succeed another day? For some it will. We can use the few that won’t as an excuse to let them all fade away. But which is the action worth preserving? Which is the better way to live?
Suffering as a Catalyst for Change
I’ve heard so many people painfully say, “Why does God allow suffering?” Beyond the fact that we usually bring it on ourselves, it serves an important purpose.
Suffering emphasizes the potential in making positive change. We acknowledge the reality of suffering and injustice in the world and view suffering as opportunity. Suffering is the impetus to change things for the better.
Deepening crisis brings things sharply into view. It also brings motivation to change things.
Engaged Faith: Beyond the Polling Booth
The last election dashed the hopes of many. Many were so disillusioned by politics that they didn’t go vote, and this helped lose the election. The inexperienced aren’t aware that few things happen quickly except destruction.
Which is the better way to live: to vote consistently until the changes you want are made, or to be paralyzed into inaction by waiting for Godot so you don’t vote?
As said in Proverbs, the hand of the diligent will rule.
Finding Strength Through Faith and Resilience
As the Apostle Paul advised, the farmer plants and then patiently waits for the rains, then the crop blossoms.
Paul continued, you remember the suffering of Job and all he lost and his misery. But in the end God is compassionate and merciful and gives you back what you have lost.
I’ve been through several difficult times and each time after the sacrifices we made God restored us.
We should adopt a balanced approach to a life of faith, combining faith, reason, and action.
Conclusion after this about church planning:
Church planning season – strong impact course
How can churches minister to new generations if they won’t come to church? The church has been losing people at 1% a year as a percentage of the population since 1925, and now most in new generations won’t come.
I developed and presented a course on understanding and working with new generations. I would like to say I had rave reviews, but on a scale of 1 to 5 it averaged 4.5. Well, some of the people were raving.
The course helps people understand new generations, their values, and their differences. It helps people understand how to build a bridge to them and minister to them. The old worn-out things we used to do don’t work, and for good reason. This solutions-focused course enables people to find new ways, appropriate ways, to minister to these generations in their local circumstances. It’s for church groups and generates deep discussion.
Free video preview of the course
Course on Udemy: Understanding and Working with New Generations
Conclusion
It’s easy to feel helpless and hopeless and abandon doing anything that might be beneficial. But God tells us that life isn’t void of meaning and we have power through God, so will be restored.
As we grow spiritually, life gains more meaning and purpose. Our transformation makes us more aware.
Does it always happen that between God and us we overcome all? Usually. But some early Christians became martyrs, losing their lives for their faith. But this is an exception. For people like Corrie Ten Boom, they survived and had renewed lives.
A Christian, Corrie helped Jews escape the Nazis. Caught, she was put in a concentration camp and tortured. She later became a Christian writer who encouraged many. One of her books is The Hiding Place.
100 books like The Hiding Place.
Whatever our difficulty in life, God helps us through it. While life comes to an end for all, Our faith even helps us through that.
Music: John Mayer – Waiting On the World to Change
Building a Community of Action
New Way Forward community
Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, said: “Although the world is full of suffering, it’s also full of the overcoming of it.”
The human spirit yearns for a world without suffering, but it’s through facing challenges that we progress. The world isn’t perfect, but together we can create a future with less hardship. Famine, discrimination, gun violence, racism, and injurious economic and educational disparities, are complex problems, yet understanding their root causes empowers us to find solutions.
Launching in first quarter 2025, the New Way Forward community will connect individuals seeking practical solutions and creating lasting change. We’ll focus on understanding problems and their solutions, and how to effectively create change.
Join us in building a brighter tomorrow! New Way Forward Facebook Group.
Probability Space
What probability spaces can we open in our minds to considering, what would help us prevent our lives from being a cautionary tale?
Potential Space
If you think creatively and allow your mind to wander and explore, how can we help others prevent their lives from being cautionary tales ?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. This helps me improve my work.
Please subscribe to my Patheos Newsletter.
If you made it this far, you’re a reader! Image two lawyers asking restaurant patrons for help writing their suicide notes, in this comedy. Intrigued? Please consider my novel, Death for Christmas: Be kind or it may kill you, on Amazon and Draft2Digital.
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My friend, David Ketcherside, former Christian broadcaster, has written a book series that I gave feedback on. It’s for men, written from his experience, thoughtful analysis, and heart. Gen A, Z, and X (Millennials) would find it very helpful. It’s available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook on Audible. Check out The Whole Dude. His description: “My hope is to remind readers what being whole looks like, and help them recognize the distortions that stop us from feeling totally awesome all the time.” He’s also excellent at marketing if you have marketing needs.
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– Dorian
Our answer is God. God’s answer is us. Together we make the world better.
Restore and recreate. Take time to celebrate life. Laugh, sing, and dance regularly, even every day. Happy. This is why we dance to celebrate life: Reindeer actually running and dancing.
Civic service opportunities
Do Unto Others Kindness Campaign, and civic engagement.
United Methodist Church Volunteer Opportunities.
Join or support Zero Hour and amplify the voices of youth organizing for climate action.
Peoples Hub. Resistance, Resilience, Restoration, Re-imagination. Online Popular Education. For movement workers to learn, connect, collaborate, and strategize – in and across the disability justice and solidarity economy movements.
Stakeholder Capitalism – a video podcast series from the World Economic Forum. Can capitalism be made to work for all of us – and to improve rather than destroy the state of the planet?
General service and aid opportunities (on One Spirit Resources Website). To add your service opportunity to the One Spirit Resources list, contact the author (me) through Facebook Messenger. Note that I only friend people I know.
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Education Opportunities for new generations
Becoming an Entrepreneur – MITx online
Evaluating Social Programs – MITx online
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Bible scripture verses are New American Standard Version (NASB), unless noted.
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Author and books
Appease the Volcano: What does God require from people? The voices of the ancients from many religions echo much of the same things: It starts with law, then mercy and forgiveness, then love. Love is a major emphasis in all major religions and replaces law.
The Prophetic Pattern: Ancient and Modern Prophecy: How to distinguish the intent of various types of prophecies and oracles, both ancient and modern.
Preparing For the Future Of Work and Education: Analysis of the kinds of jobs that AI and Robotics will displace, and the educational requirements for them. AI will replace or augment thirty percent of jobs. This is an in-depth analysis citing many authoritative sources.
Author Website: Dorian Scott Cole
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