Great Men and Women of Faith Series: George Müller

There has never been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt

George Müller (1805-1898) was born in Prussia (currently Germany). He established many orphanages in Bristol, England and also founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad. If you want numbers: An 1871 article in The Times stated that “since 1836, 23,000 children had been educated in the schools and very many thousands had been educated in other schools at the expense of the orphanage. The article also states that since its origin, 64,000 Bibles, 85,000 Testaments and 29,000,000 religious books had been issued and distributed. Other expenses included the support of 150 missionaries.”

However, he started life off on a very different track. Although Müller’s father encouraged him to be a pastor, although it was encouraged less for the glory of God and more for the comfort of his family. Left on a very long leash, his younger years were filled with drinking, lying, thievery, and gambling. As a matter of fact, at age 15, he was in a drunken state playing cards with his friends while his mother lay dying.

With the financial support of his father, Müller attended the University of Halle, and while there, met Christ! In 1825, Müller was invited to a small house meeting by a classmate. It was there that he came to an understanding. “I understood something of the reason why the Lord Jesus died on the cross and suffered agonies in the Garden of Gethsemane; even that thus, bearing the punishment due to us, we might not have to bear it ourselves. And therefore, apprehending in some measure the love of Jesus for my soul, I was constrained to love Him in return.”

It was a short-time later that Müller decided to become a missionary. His father immediately withdrew support and Müller was left penniless. Obviously, this brought great struggle and heartache. However, he so firmly believed this decision was of God that he decided in everything he did there would be no patronage, appeals or requests for subscription. He was convinced that God would provide all resources and meet every need. (And, in fact, the George Müller Foundation today does no fund-raising.)

He started establishing the orphanages in England a short time after graduating. And after marrying, this work began full throttle. It was after she died and he married again that he began to travel for mission work. In fact, reports have him traveling over 200,000 miles (and this was in the late 1800’s).

Müller is often quoted in Streams in the Desert. Today is no exception:

Remember, the very time for faith to work is when our sight begins to fail. And the great the difficulties, the easier it is for faith to work, for as long as we can see certain natural solutions to our problems, we will not have faith. Faith never works as easily as when our natural prospects fail.

All for now,
Lisa