A Popular Tagalog Proverb Gets a Biblical

Makeover
There is a popular Tagalog proverb, “Nasa Dios ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa,” (God grants the mercy.
Man does the work.) that implies that man has to work first before he obtains mercy from God.

I’m sorry, but I do not completely conform to that saying because it is not biblical. Instead, we should
believe that it is God who works, and it is also God who grants mercy.

First of all, when you work, you do not merit mercy; you merit a reward or compensation. This is
precisely the reason why it is called mercy — it is because you did not work for it.

To obtain God’s mercy, a person needs to repent first. Afterward, God shall work in him. It is God who
works.

As it is written in 1 Corinthians 12:6 (KJV),

And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

We, humans, are incapable of doing every good work, but it is God who works in us all.

God works in a person in various ways. If he starts to feel a desire in his heart to do good works, it is
proof or a manifestation that God is working in him.

Philippians 2:13 (KJV) says,

For it is God which worketh in you both  to will  and  to do  of his good pleasure.

God gives people the desire to do good works. Nowadays, what many people like doing are the things
that will only benefit themselves. Doing good works for others does not always spring out of people’s
hearts naturally or spontaneously, so God fills their hearts with the desire to do good works for others.

Again, we obtain mercy not because we worked for it, but because God has forgiven and accepted us
when we repented. We feel the desire in our hearts to do good deeds because God is working in us. And
He will not only urge us to do good works — He will also help us in accomplishing the good works that
we desire to do. Because without Him, we cannot do anything.

John 15:5 (KJV) says,

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

That is why it is unbiblical to say that it is man who works. It is God who works, and it is also God who
grants mercy. Man cannot do anything all by himself; he needs God’s help. It is God who sustains him
with life, strength, resources, and the will to do what is good. Indeed, humans, in general, are
dependent on divine providence.

God is merciful. In fact, He is even more merciful than an ordinary father who is also merciful to his
subservient son.

Malachi 3:17 (KJV) says,

And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare
them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

The only thing that God asks from men is to return to Him and to keep His ordinances.

Malachi 3:7 (KJV) says,

Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.
Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

We need to repent, return to God, and accept His words. When we have accepted His words, only then
will we be able to work on the things that we ought to do in order to merit — not God’s mercy — but
God’s reward. Remember, we do not work to merit God’s mercy, but we should work to merit God’s
reward.

Another manifestation that God is working in a person is when he feels remorseful and repentant of the
sins that he has committed in the past.

Romans 2:4 (KJV) says,

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

It is God’s goodness and graciousness that lead a person to repentance.

Also, when you feel repentant of a sin that you have committed, it also signifies that you are
acknowledging a powerful Being — unto whom you are submitting yourself to be under subjection,
knowing that you are helpless without Him.

Our sincere repentance is very important for us to merit God’s mercy. Remember, the people of
Nineveh merited God’s mercy because they sincerely repented of their transgressions. He spared them
from the destruction that He planned to bring them.

Jonah 3:10 (KJV) says,

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he said
that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

The people of Nineveh were misguided during that time. They were engaged in violence and sexual
offenses, just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

That was why God sent them the prophet Jonah to warn them of the impending doom that was to befall
them. But upon hearing the words of the prophet, the people of Nineveh immediately repented — they
turned away from their evildoings, they fasted, and they prayed fervently.

Jonah 3:5 (KJV) says,

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of
them even to the least of them.

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah continued with their exceedingly sinful lives; hence, brimstone and
fire rained upon them.

But unlike them, the people of Nineveh were spared from God’s punishment because they
acknowledged God, repented, and turned away from their wickedness.

I just hope that the people of this generation will also do what the people of Nineveh had done, so that
we, too, will merit God’s mercy; so that we will also be spared from the pandemic that troubles the
world today.

It is God who works; it is God who grants mercy. And by His mercy, we can be saved.