Today is Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified.

Even though Jesus told His disciples, friends, and family that He would return, I don’t think any words could have comforted those who witnessed His death. Can you imagine being there when that happened – being witness to such a tragedy?

Jesus’ disciples had followed Him around for years, being inspired by His words and His actions, being a part of miracles, healings, and conversions of people to God. Then their world was shattered before their eyes by others who were afraid of this man. (So afraid, in fact, that those who crucified Him posted guards at His tomb to be sure He didn’t come back like He said He was going to.)

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I am sure we have all been in a position where we have been working hard to accomplish something; you invest hours and hours into reaching a goal, finishing a project, studying for an exam… only to find that as you are nearing the finish line you start to question yourself.

You start to wonder: am I good enough, smart enough, will people listen to or like me…

Self-doubt creeps into the back of your mind and you start to question yourself.  You start to lose confidence in your ability to carry through to your goal.

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Do you ever wonder why certain people come into your life when they do?

I have found that the people who have come into and had the greatest impact on my life have done so at the most unexpected times.

Recently, I have become quite friendly with a person who I have known for just a few short months.  Our friendship has grown because, to state the obvious about friendships, we seem to have a lot in common and are similar in certain ways – most notably some of our philosophies about life, spirituality, relationships, and our drive.

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Earlier in my professional life I had a fear of rejection. 

I think it might have had to do with how I was trained at a large accounting firm that I previously worked for.  At that firm, we were required to report every week how many new people we met, where we met them, and how successful we were in getting them as a new client.  Not that I wasn’t able to talk to people; on the contrary, I am very personable and can talk to anyone in almost any situation.  However, if we didn’t get them as a client, we had to explain why and what we could have done better.  It got to the point where I started to really dislike reporting my activities because you had to explain why you weren’t always 100% successful.

One day, after I started my own firm, a salesman, with whom I had been doing business for quite awhile, came into my office.  Because I always enjoyed learning other people’s strategies for getting new clients, sometimes he and I would sit and talk about sales techniques. 

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When my kids were younger often they would ask me for a toy, money to go out, or something else that there was some cost to.  Sometimes, I would give them a hard time and tell them “God helps those who help themselves.”  They would tell me that they were too young to get a job to earn money so, within reason, I would usually give them what it was they were asking for.

I have often wondered where the statement “God helps those who help themselves” came from.  So one day I decided to try to find out.  I had thought that this statement had come from somewhere in the bible but I was wrong.  I found that it is actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

As I looked into the origin of the statement I found many people who were upset with the statement itself.  Some people feel the statement gives one the impression that God ignores the helpless.

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