Another Müller?

For several years now, I’ve desired to read a biography of George Müller. I had heard many stories about this man of prayer, but I did not know the whole story of his life. Finally, through Roger Steer’s George Müller: Delighted in God I’ve fulfilled that desire.

I found that the typical stories which I had heard about George Müller’s extraordinary faith were true. At the time of his death, the Bristol Times (not to be confused with the Bristol Snoop, for all you Veggie Tales fans out there) eulogized Müller as a man who was “raised up for the purpose of showing that the age of miracles is not past, and rebuking the skeptical tendencies of our time” (233). Müller set out to live a life that would prove to the world that God answers prayers. To that end, he was a man of childlike trust in God. Müller once told a poor, overworked man to work less and spend more time with God because, he said, “It is not your work which supports your family, but the Lord” (57). I would be afraid to give such advice thinking that it might blow up in my face, but Müller’s childlike faith was such that it seemed completely natural and biblical.

Despite such an emphasis on childlike faith, Müller was not the forerunner of modern prosperity preachers. The true substance of his faith can be observed in the various trials that he faced throughout his life. His power in prayer did not lead him to a life of ease. Rather, he faced many, many trials and heartaches. When Müller’s fifteen month-old son Elijah died of pneumonia, Müller wrote, “My soul rejoiced, instead of mourning, that my beloved infant was far happier with the Lord, than with me” (51). Similarly, when his first wife died, he wrote, “Yet, without an effort, my inmost soul habitually joys in the joy of that loved departed one. Her happiness gives joy to me…God himself has done it, we are satisfied with him” (165).

Müller’s responses to trials were based completely on his confident faith in the God revealed in the Bible. He believed that God is good. He believed that God knows best and does what is best for his children. In his response to both deaths mentioned above, the common thread is his confidence in who God is. This steadfast faith was certainly developed through a lifetime of study of the Bible. Müller read the Bible systematically. He prayed the Bible. He meditated the Bible, and he preached the Bible by simply exposing the text. He did not base his extraordinary faith on subjective, mystical feelings. His faith was based firmly on the objective truth of who God is, as revealed in the Scriptures.

His confidence in God further displayed itself in a humble lifestyle. Müller handled large controversies with poise and grace. J.N. Darby, the famed Bible-teacher who may have been the first person to teach a pre-tribulational rapture, excommunicated Müller’s entire church for disagreeing with him on certain points of doctrine, but Müller did not panic or fire back. He patiently endured the wrongdoing, and the historical record now justifies him and condemns Darby’s action. However, Müller’s humility was not limited to his public persona. He was the same man at home that he was behind the pulpit or anywhere else for that matter. The following journal entry bears witness to a man who had overcome pride and was able to acknowledge and overcome his sin: “This morning I greatly dishonored the Lord by irritability, manifested toward my dear wife, and that almost immediately after I had been on my knees before God, praising Him for having given me such a wife” (72). I wrote in the margin beside this quote, “I do this everyday! For such humility!”

When we read of a man like Müller, it is easy to grant ourselves excuses. He was exceptional. We are ordinary. However, even in this, Müller corrects us. After reading a biography of George Whitefield, Müller wrote, “What hinders God to make of one, so vile as I am, another Whitefield? Surely God could bestow as much grace upon me, as He did upon him” (73). Let us now ask, “What hinders God to make another Müller?” Müller reminds us that nothing hinders God. Absolutely nothing hinders God! O that he may bestow as much grace upon me, as he did upon Müller!