From the journal' of George Muller
FAITH /Strengthened
The secret of having your/
B y reading the details of God’s dealings w ith me, I desire that a ll the children of God m ay thereby be led to increased and more simple confidence in God for every thing which th ey m ay need under any circumstances. And m ay these m any answers to p rayer encourage them to pray, p a rticu la rly as it re gards the conversion of th eir friends and relatives, th eir own progress in grace and knowledge, the state of the saints whom th ey m ay know personally, the state of the church of God at large and the success of the preaching of the gospel. Especially I affectionately warn fellow Christians against being led away by the device of Satan to th ink th a t these th ings are pecu liar to m e and cannot be enjoyed by a ll the children of God; for though every believer is not called upon to estab lish orphan-houses, ch a rity schools, etc., and trust in the Lord fo r means, yet all believers are called upon, in the simple confidence of faith , to cast all th e ir burdens upon H im , to trust in H im fo r everything, and not on ly to make everything a sub je c t of p rayer bu t to expect answers to th e ir petitions wh ich th ey have asked according to H is w ill and in the nam e of the Lord Jesus. W h en sometimes all has beep dark, exceedingly dark, w ith re fe r ence to m y service among the saints judging from n atu ral appearances, yea, when I should have been over whelmed indeed in g rief and de spair had I looked a t things a fter the outward appearance, a t such times I have sought to encourage myself in God by lay ing hold in fa ith on His m igh ty power, H is unchange able love and His in fin ite wisdom. I have said to m yself: God is able
ual prosperity of m y work. Do not th ink th a t I have attained in faith (and how much less in other re spects!) to th a t degree to which I m igh t and ought to atta in bu t I thank God for the fa ith which He has given me and I ask H im to up hold and increase it. And on ce m o re, let not Satan d eceiv e y ou in m a k in g y ou th in k that y ou cou ld not h a v e th e sam e fa ith but that it is on ly fo r persons w ho a r e situ ated as I am . And thus in m y temporal and spiritual concerns I p ray to the Lord and expect an answer to m y requests; and m a y not y ou do the same, dear believing reader? Oh! I beseech you, do not th ink m e an extraord inary believer having priv ileges above other of God’s dear children wh ich th ey cannot have, nor look on m y w ay of' acting as something that would not do for other believers. M ake but trial! Do but stand still in the hour of tria l and you w ill see the help of God if you trust in Him . Bu t there is so often a forsaking the ways of the Lord in the hour of tria l and thus the fo o d o f fa ith , the means whereby our fa ith m ay be increased, is lost. Th is leads me to the follow ing important point. You ask, how m ay I, a true believer, have m y fa ith strengthened? The answer is this: “Ev ery good g ift and every per fect g ift is from above, and cometh down from the F a th er of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of tu rn ing” (Jam e s 1 :1 7 ). As the increase of fa ith is a good gift, it must come from God and therefore H e ought to be asked for this blessing. T h e follow ing means, however,
and w illing to deliver me if it be good for m e; for it is w ritten : “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us a ll, how shall he not w ith him also freely give us a ll th ings?” (Rom . 8 :3 2 .) Th is it was which, being believed by me through grace, kept m y soul in peace. Fu rth er, in connection w ith the orphan-houses, day schools, etc., trials have come upon m e wh ich I cannot even mention. A t these times I believed H is word of promise wh ich was applicable to such cases; I poured out m y soul before God and arose from m y knees in peace, because the trouble th a t was in the soul was in believing p ray er cast upon God and thus I was kept in peace. W h en I needed houses, fellow-laborers, masters and m is tresses fo r the orphans or for the day schools, I have been enabled to look for all to the Lord and trust in H im fo r help. D ea r reader, I m ay seem to boast; but by the grace of God I do not boast in thus speaking. I thought it needful to make these remarks lest anyone should th ink th a t m y depending upon God was a particu la r g ift given to me which other saints have no righ t to look for, or lest it should be thought th a t m y depending upon H im had o n ly to do w ith th e obtain ing o f m on ey by p ra y er an d fa ith . B y th e grace of God I desire that m y fa ith in God should extend towards ev ery th in g , the smallest of m y own temporal and spiritual concerns and the smallest of the temporal and sp irit ual concerns of m y fam ily , towards the saints among whom I labor, the chu rch at large, everything th a t has to do w ith the temporal and sp irit
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