Does God help those who help themselves?
Mar 5, 2010
Case for Grace - part twenty-three in a study of the book of Romans
Mike Gaudet
“God helps those who help themselves.”
This isn’t in the Bible, but . . .
. . . is it true nonetheless?
Does God help those who help themselves?
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Romans 8:26-27
We need help because of “our weakness.”
Weakness is literally “lack of strength.” It is powerlessness. Someone more powerful than you can “make you” do what they want you to do. This is what weakness means in this passage. It is not our inability to do something. It is our inability to prevent someone else from doing something to us.
Weakness is the inescapable by-product of being an immortal spirit imprisoned within a mortal body. We want to gratify the immortal desires of our spirit. We also want to gratify the mortal desires of our flesh. We are divided. We are unable to reconcile these conflicting desires. We are weak.
Some kinds of weakness can be changed by disciplined effort. Physical weakness. Emotional weakness. Intellectual weakness. We can focus our efforts to improve ourselves in these areas.
The problem with spiritual weakness is that in our dividedness we cannot focus our efforts to bring about heart-level change. God judges heart-deep motives, not skin-deep actions. God wants us to love Him and others wholeheartedly. We can focus our efforts to change our behavior. We cannot focus our efforts to change our hearts. This is what it means to be spiritually weak.
Because of our weakness, “We do not know what we ought to pray for.”
Because we are pulled apart by contrary desires, we are unable to ask God for what we want. How can we ask for what we want when we want two different things? Our flesh wants one thing. Our spirit wants something else. We are like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Our spirit points in one direction and our flesh in another.
Because of weakness, we “groan.”
Groaning is born of frustration. It is the natural response to being pulled apart by competing desires.
In this present life we cannot sidestep disappointment. We cannot silence our groaning. When we move to gratify our fleshly desires, our spirits are disappointed. When we move to gratify our spirit’s desires, our flesh is disappointed. Because we cannot satisfy both sets of desires, we groan.
God’s Spirit “helps us in our weakness.”
The Holy Spirit “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
We are not alone in our groaning.
Imagine a prisoner languishing in a foreign jail cell. Cut off from the outside world. Cut off from communication. “Does anyone know I am here?” Does anyone know what I’m going through?”
A note appears under the cell door. “Your cries are being heard. I placed a listening device in your cell. It is transmitting your voice to your government. You are not alone. A friend.”
The Holy Spirit is transmitting “groans that words cannot express” to our Father in heaven. Our groans do not escape God’s notice.
Our weakness does not cause God to look at us with frustration. He understands the pull of divided desires. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came and experienced the tug-of-war firsthand. Jesus successfully influenced Himself to wholeheartedly do what His Father wanted. However, He did feel the pull. He felt the strain. He understands what we are going through. He is able to “sympathize with us in our weakness.” Hebrews 4:15
God is not waiting for us to help ourselves.
He knows we are unable to.
God knows we are weak.
He hears our groans.