One of my heroes of faith is George Mueller (1805-1898). One day he looked
down the streets of Bristol in England and saw hundreds of homeless
children. He was so moved with compassion for them, he knew that something
had to be done. Although he only had a few pence in his pocket he decided to
start an orphanage. Over 60 years, George Mueller took care of over 10,024
orphans.
George Mueller started many orphanages without ever making requests for
financial support, nor did he ever get into debt. (I must confess that is a
challenge to us at Philo and to all our Associates!). He simply trusted God
to do the work and keep it going. On more than one occasion God provided in
a miraculous way. Once they had no food to feed the orphans and yet George
gathered all the orphans around the table and began to thank the Lord for
the food. At the end of the prayer, he said, "Amen", and that's when they
heard a knock at the door. A truck with milk and food had broken down on the
road and all the milk and food was going to go off, so the driver gave it to
the orphans. Do we have that kind of faith, where we can take all our
problems and trust to the Lord and ask Him to take care of them? When asked
how much time he spent in prayer, George Mueller's reply was, "Hours every
day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie
down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming."
George Mueller was known for his believing prayer. A Christian steamship
captain, a contemporary of George Mueller, told of an experience involving
George's faith. While sailing off the coast of Newfoundland in extremely
heavy fog, George came to him and said, "Captain, I need to tell you that I
must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon." The captain told him that it was
simply not possible, due to the weather conditions. George said, "Very well,
if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way, for I have never
missed an engagement in fifty-seven years. Let's go down to the chartroom to
pray."
Again, the captain protested, saying, "Mr. Mueller, do you realise how dense
the fog is?" "No," replied George, "my eye is not on the dense fog but on
the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." The captain
then told how George knelt down and prayed one of the simplest prayers he'd
ever heard. When he finished, the captain himself started to pray. But to
his surprise, George put his hand on the captain's shoulder and told him not
to pray. "First," he said, "you do not believe God will answer, and second,
I believe He has. Consequently, there is no need whatsoever for you to pray
about it. Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has
never been even a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the
King. Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will see that the fog is
gone." The captain got up, opened the door, and sure enough, the fog was
gone. And George Mueller made his appointment for Saturday afternoon in
Quebec.
George kept a motto on his desk that brought comfort, strength, and
uplifting confidence to his heart. It read, "It matters to Him about you."
He believed that those words captured the meaning of 1 Peter 5:7 and he
rested his claim for divine help on that truth. He testified at the end of
his life that the Lord had never failed to supply all his needs.
George Mueller, speaking of the obstacles in the Christian's life, wrote, "I
say - and say it deliberately - trials, obstacles, difficulties, and
sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith. Be assured, if you walk with
Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you."
George Mueller died on March 10th, 1898. Let's be inspired by his example of
faith and trust in God. Like George Mueller, we need to follow the advice we
read in 1 Peter 5:7: "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares
about what happens to you."
Agapé,
J.John
Useful link: www.philotrust.com
To manage your subscription or unsubscribe click here
No comments:
Post a Comment