Not Just Faith

“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Mt 6:11 AV)

Last night, I read a book that challenged me and is in the process of profoundly changing me.  When we think of George Muller, we think of faith.  Almost everyone knows the story of the milk cart that broke down in front of the Orphan house.  One morning, with nothing left in which to feed his little orphans, Bro Muller, and his staff began to pray.  Before they were done praying, a milkman whose cart broke down near the orphan house gave the milk to the orphanage lest it spoil and be of no use. As I read his journal entries, I was struck by a profound truth.  But more of that a bit later.

George Muller set out to start and sustain orphan houses.  He started very modestly, but at his peak, cared for 2,000 orphans at one time.  Many souls came to Christ through this ministry, but that wasn’t Muller’s primary motivation for starting and running this ministry.  It is said this ministry touched the lives of 100,000 orphans in over one hundred years of operation.  As you read George’s select journal entries, one cannot help but learn of a man given to prayer and faith.  It wasn’t the 100,000 souls this ministry touched that was Muller’s primary motivation.  At its height, the ministry support 258 foreign missionaries.  But it wasn’t his heart for missions that was the primary driving force behind George’s ministry.  Muller had a training school for those considering ministry, a publication ministry, and other interests from the walls of these orphan houses.  But it wasn’t all these tentacles of ministry that affected millions that were at the heart of George’s ministry.  At the heart of his ministry was an unquenchable desire to show God faithful through prayer and faith.  This has to be understood, or his narrative becomes tiresome.

Time and again, he speaks of having a need and by prayer and faith, God answered those needs.  At the height of his ministry, he needed £97 a day to feed and care for all his children.  That is roughly $1300 today.  He mentions a trickle of support that came in more times than a generous sum that sustained them for a time.  Most of his entries regard this trickle of support rather than enormous sums.  Muller never published his needs.  He never asked for funds.  He never went on fundraising trips for anything other than foreign missions.  Yet, the LORD supplied all his needs.  Often, at the very last minute.  Herein is the profound truth which struck me.  I realized just how inextricably faith and humility are related.  We often equate faith with confidence.  Confidence can often look like arrogance.  I imagined how tiring it would be to rely on the LORD for every nickel and dime, often coming up short until the very last minute, for over forty years.  If God can provide one day’s expenses, He can provide a lifetime of expenses all at once.  I imagined how exhausting it would be to have to go to God every day for a piece of bread.  But that is what our verse states.  The LORD’s prayer, given by Jesus Himself, tells us we need to pray for each day’s provision.  This requires humility and faith.  Not mere faith alone.

When I began to think of George’s first passion, I realized how much his life truly meant to all whom he had touched.  It wasn’t about faith alone.  It was about humility just as well.  Muller could not set the example of faith unless he was willing to live a humble and disciplined life.  I appreciate something else he said.  He was afraid of making a mistake with the resources God has given, no matter how small, lest the LORD not bless him.  Muller purposely set out to live a life of constant need so that he could humble himself and prove God faithful.  One has to wonder how much we are willing to do the same.  If we don’t have our expenses planned for and covered so there is no anxiety or worry, we would work rather hard to make sure there is no need.  Humility and prayer wouldn’t be our normal go-to.  Muller was a remarkable man.  He left a legacy of God’s faithfulness.  The orphan houses no longer exist.  They closed in 1958.  That doesn’t mean Muller fails to make an impact.  His legacy of humility with faith is what changed the world.