Encouraging My Faith

Always a good reminder!

Feeling the need to strenghten my faith by reading God`s working in other Christians` lives, I decided to re-read the biography of George Mueller (1805-1898). This man`s life of faith as he began orphanages in England is truly amazing. He never asked for any money, but simply told people what he knew God was leading him to do. As he did so, God always blessed with what was needed. Many times, God sent money from individuals who said it was to be used for a specific purpose that Mueller had told no one about yet.

On one occasion, he prayed for the blessing on the food that he, and around 300 orphans would eat, despite the fact there was no food in the orphanage or on their plates. As prayer finished and they all sat down, the local baker arrive with bread to spare as the Lord laid on his heart the night before to bake it for them. Within a few more minutes, the local milkman arrived on the doorstep asking them to take many bottles of milk off his truck. They needed to be offloaded – to be donated to the orphanage of course – as his truck wheel had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and could not be repaired with all the weight on it. Again, milk for the meal and to spare.

In his life, George Mueller helped over 2000 orphans by taking them from the streets and the destitute poor houses. Then caring for their bodies and nurturing their souls with the Word of God. Most went on to lead productive lives and in turn, either continued to help the orphanage in person or by gifts.

The following quote – written in relation to a very large sum required to build another orphanage building in 1851 – is what started me wanting to write this note:

“The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more will it be seen to the glory of God how much can be done by prayer and faith.”

And it brings to mind this Scripture:

(KJV) Luke 17:6 “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

I encourage everyone to read his biography! I have yet to find a better modern day example of what real faith can do, and I need all the help I can get too.

Originally published Sept. 10, 2011.