Proverb Expansion
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES
Dependence is the worst enemy of man. It leads to desperation and suicides. A man who just believes in fate alone and does not make efforts walks on a slippery ground. He may fall any moment and lose all the strength that God has given him. He betrays God and invites insult and humiliation at his door.
Let us go back to the Biblical story where a trader wanted to go for pilgrim. He had three servants. Before he left the city he gave one talent (a coin) to one of his three servants. The other received two and the third got three. After some years the trader came back and wanted to know how the three had utilized the coins that he had given them. The first presented the talent to his master in its original form. The other had given the two to another businessman who gave him ten. He presented these ten to the master. But the third took his master to a flourishing business complex and said ‘my Lord the capital was yours – the efforts were mine – the complex is yours’. The trader was pleased with him and embraced him.
If we make efforts God is pleased and his divine blessings are with us. He has given man talent (skill). He would help us only when we help ourselves. None can achieve simply by remaining idle. God won’t be kind to him – won’t provide him even with a loaf. The Lord has inspired us to do ‘Karma’ – help yourselves and He would provide all that we need. Milton’s dictum “They also serve who stand and wait” applies only to the handicapped not to a normal man who can rise to the occasion with the blessings of God and his own efforts.