"THE NARRATIVE OF THE LORD'S DEALINGS"
THINGS which are sacred forbid even a careless touch.
The record written by George Muller of the Lord's dealings reads,
especially in parts, almost like an inspired writing, because it is
simply the tracing of divine guidance in a human life--not this man's
own working or planning, suffering or serving, but the _Lord's dealings_
with him and workings through him.
It reminds us of that conspicuous passage in the Acts of the Apostles
where, within the compass of twenty verses, God is fifteen times put
boldly forward as the one Actor in all events. Paul and Barnabas
rehearsed, in the ears of the church at Antioch, and afterward at
Jerusalem, not what _they had done_ for the Lord, but all that _He had
done_ with them, and how _He had opened_ the door of faith unto the
Gentiles; what miracles and wonders _God had wrought_ among the Gentiles
by them. And, in the same spirit, Peter before the council emphasizes
how God had made choice of his mouth, as that whereby the Gentiles
should hear the word of the Gospel and believe; how He had given them
the Holy Ghost and put no difference between Jew and Gentile, purifying
their hearts by faith; and how He who knew all hearts had thus borne
them witness. Then James, in the same strain, refers to the way in which
_God had visited_ the Gentiles to _take out_ of them a people for His
name; and concludes by two quotations or adaptations from the Old
Testament, which fitly sum up the whole matter:
"The Lord _who doeth_ all these things."
"Known unto God are _all His works_ from the beginning of the world."
(Acts xiv. 27 to xv. 18.)
The meaning of such repeated phraseology cannot be mistaken. God is here
presented as the one agent or actor, and even the most conspicuous
apostles, like Paul and Peter, as only His instruments. No twenty verses
in the word of God contain more emphatic and repeated lessons on man's
insufficiency and nothingness, and God's all-sufficiency and
almightiness. It was God that wrought upon man through man. It was He
who chose Peter to be His mouthpiece, He whose key unlocked shut doors,
He who visited the nations, who turned sinners into saints, who was even
then taking out a people for His name, purifying hearts and bearing them
witness; it was He and He alone who did all these wondrous things, and
according to His knowledge and plan of what He would do, from the
beginning. We are not reading so much the Acts of the Apostles as the
acts of God through the apostles. Was it not this very passage in this
inspired book that suggested, perhaps, the name of this journal: _"The
Lord's dealings with George Muller"_?
At this narrative or journal, as a whole, we can only rapidly glance. In
this shorter account, purposely condensed to secure a wider reading even
from busy people, that narrative could not be more fully treated, for in
its original form it covers about three thousand printed pages, and
contains close to one million words. To such as can and will read that
more minute account it is accessible at a low rate,* and is strongly
recommended for careful and leisurely perusal. But for the present
purpose the life-story, as found in these pages, takes both a briefer
and a different form.
* Five volumes at 16s. Published by Jas. Nisbet & Co., London. With
subsequent Annual Reports at 3d. each.
The journal is largely composed of, condensed from, and then
supplemented by, annual reports of the work, and naturally and
necessarily includes, not only thousands of little details, but much
inevitable repetition year by year, because each new report was likely
to fall into the hands of some who had never read reports of the
previous years. The desire and design of this briefer memoir is to
present the salient points of the narrative, to review the whole
life-story as from the great summits or outlooks found in this
remarkable journal; so that, like the observer who from some high
mountain-peak looks toward the different points of the compass, and thus
gets a rapid, impressive, comparative, and comprehensive view of the
whole landscape, the reader may, as at a glance, take in those marked
features of this godly man's character and career which incite to new
and advance steps in faith and holy living. Some few characteristic
entries in the journal will find here a place; others, only in
substance; while of the bulk of them it will be sufficient to give a
general survey, classifying the leading facts, and under each class
giving a few representative examples and illustrations.
Looking at this narrative as a whole, certain prominent peculiarities
must be carefully noted. We have here a record and revelation of seven
conspicuous experiences:
1. An experience of frequent and at times prolonged _financial straits._
The money in hand for personal needs, and for the needs of hundreds and
thousands of orphans, and for the various branches of the work of the
Scriptural Knowledge Institution, was often reduced to a single _pound,_
or even _penny,_ and sometimes to _nothing._ There was therefore a
necessity for constant waiting on God, looking to Him directly for all
supplies. For months, if not years, together, and at several periods in
the work, supplies were furnished only from month to month, week to
week, day to day, _hour to hour!_ Faith was thus kept in lively exercise
and under perpetual training.
2. An experience of the _unchanging faithfulness of the Father-God._
The straits were long and trying, but never was there one case of
failure to receive help; never a meal-time without at least a frugal
meal, never a want or a crisis unmet by divine supply and support. Mr.
Muller said to the writer: "Not once, or five times, or five hundred
times, but thousands of times in these threescore years, have we had in
hand not enough _for one more meal,_ either in food or in funds; but not
once has God failed us; not once have we or the orphans gone hungry or
lacked any good thing." From 1838 to 1844 was a period of peculiar and
prolonged straits, yet when the time of need actually came the supply
was always given, though often at the last moment.
3. An experience of the working of God upon the minds, hearts, and
consciences of _contributors to the work._
It will amply repay one to plod, step by step, over these thousands of
pages, if only to trace the hand of God touching the springs of human
action all over the world in ways of His own, and at times of great
need, and adjusting the amount and the exact day and hour of the supply,
to the existing want. Literally from the earth's ends, men, women, and
children who had never seen Mr. Muller and could have known nothing of
the pressure at the time, have been led at the exact crisis of affairs
to send aid in the very sum or form most needful. In countless cases,
while he was on his knees asking, the answer has come in such close
correspondence with the request as to shut out chance as an explanation,
and compel belief in a prayer-hearing God.
4. An experience of habitual _hanging upon the unseen God_ and nothing
else.
The reports, issued annually to acquaint the public with the history and
progress of the work, and give an account of stewardship to the many
donors who had a right to a report--these made _no direct appeal for
aid._ At one time, and that of great need, Mr. Muller felt led to
_withhold_ the usual annual statement, lest some might construe the
account of work already done as an appeal for aid in work yet to be
done, and thus detract from the glory of the Great Provider.* The Living
God alone was and is the Patron of these institutions; and not even the
wisest and wealthiest, the noblest and the most influential of human
beings, has ever been looked to as their dependence.
* For example, Vol. II, 102, records that the report given is for
1846-1848, no report having been issued for 1847; and on page 113, under
date of May 25th, occur these words: "not being nearly enough to meet
the housekeeping expenses," etc.; and, May 28th and 30th, such other
words as these: "now our poverty," "in this our great need," "in these
days of straitness." Mr. Wright thinks that _on that very account_ Mr.
Muller did not publish the report for 1847.
5. An experience of conscientious _care in accepting and using gifts._
Here is a pattern for all who act as stewards for God. Whenever there
was any ground of misgiving as to the propriety or expediency of
receiving what was offered, it was declined, however pressing the need,
unless or until all such objectionable features no more existed. If the
party contributing was known to dishonour lawful debts, so that the
money was righteously due to others; if the gift was encumbered and
embarrassed by restrictions that hindered its free use for God; if it
was designated for endowment purposes or as a provision for Mr. Muller's
old age, or for the future of the institutions; or if there was any
evidence or suspicion that the donation was given grudgingly,
reluctantly, or for self-glory, it was promptly declined and returned.
In some cases, even where large amounts were involved, parties were
urged to wait until more prayer and deliberation made clear that they
were acting under divine leading.
6. An experience of extreme caution lest there should be even a careless
_betrayal of the fact of pressing need,_ to the outside public.
The helpers in the institutions were allowed to come into such close
fellowship and to have such knowledge of the exact state of the work as
aids not only in common labours, but in common prayers and self-denials.
Without such acquaintance they could not serve, pray, nor sacrifice
intelligently. But these associates were most solemnly and repeatedly
charged never to reveal to those without, not even in the most serious
crises, any want whatsoever of the work. The one and only resort was
ever to be the God who hears the cry of the needy; and the greater the
exigency, the greater the caution lest there should even seem to be a
looking away from divine to human help.
7. An experience of growing boldness of faith in _asking and trusting
for great things._
As faith was exercised it was energized, so that it became as easy and
natural to ask confidently for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand
pounds, as once it had been for a pound or a penny. After confidence in
God had been strengthened through discipline, and God had been proven
faithful, it required no more venture to cast himself on God for
provision for two thousand children and an annual outlay of at least
twenty-five thousand pounds for them than in the earlier periods of the
work to look to Him to care for twenty homeless orphans at a cost of two
hundred and fifty pounds a year. Only by _using_ faith are we kept from
practically _losing_ it, and, on the contrary, to use faith is to lose
the unbelief that hinders God's mighty acts.
This brief resume of the contents of thousands of entries is the result
of a repeated and careful examination of page after page where have been
patiently recorded with scrupulous and punctilious exactness the
innumerable details of Mr. Muller's long experience as a coworker with
God. He felt himself not only the steward of a celestial Master, but the
trustee of human gifts, and hence he sought to "provide things honest in
the sight of all men." He might never have published a report or spread
these minute matters before the public eye, and yet have been an equally
faithful steward toward _God;_ but he would not in such case have been
an equally faithful trustee toward man.
Frequently, in these days, men receive considerable sums of money from
various sources for benevolent work, and yet give no account of such
trusteeship. However honest such parties may be, they not only act
unwisely, but, by their course, lend sanction to others with whom such
irresponsible action is a cloak for systematic fraud. Mr. Muller's whole
career is the more without fault because in this respect his
administration of his great trust challenges the closest investigation.
The brief review of the lessons taught in his journal may well startle
the incredulous and unbelieving spirit of our skeptical day. Those who
doubt the power of prayer to bring down actual blessing, or who confound
faith in God with credulity and superstition, may well wonder and
perhaps stumble at such an array of facts. But, if any reader is still
doubtful as to the facts, or thinks they are here arrayed in a deceptive
garb or invested with an imaginative halo, he is hereby invited to
examine for himself the singularly minute records which George Muller
has been led of God to put before the world in a printed form which thus
admits no change, and to accompany with a bold and repeated challenge to
any one so inclined, to subject every statement to the severest
scrutiny, and prove, if possible, one item to be in any respect false,
exaggerated, or misleading. The absence of all enthusiasm in the calm
and mathematical precision of the narrative compels the reader to feel
that the writer was almost mechanically exact in the record, and
inspires confidence that it contains the absolute, naked truth.
One caution should, like Habakkuk's gospel message--"The just shall live
by his faith"--be written large and plain so that even a cursory glance
may take it in. Let no one ascribe to George Muller such a _miraculous
gift of faith_ as lifted him above common believers and out of the reach
of the temptations and infirmities to which all fallible souls are
exposed. He was constantly liable to satanic assaults, and we find him
making frequent confession of the same sins as others, and even of
unbelief, and at times overwhelmed with genuine sorrow for his
departures from God. In fact he felt himself rather more than usually
wicked by nature, and utterly helpless even as a believer: was it not
this poverty of spirit and mourning over sin, this consciousness of
entire unworthiness and dependence, that so drove him to the throne of
grace and the all-merciful and all-powerful Father? Because he was so
weak, he leaned hard on the strong arm of Him whose strength is not only
manifested, but can only be made perfect, in weakness.*
* 1 Cor. xii. 1-10.
To those who think that no man can wield such power in prayer or live
such a life of faith who is not an exception to common mortal frailties,
it will be helpful to find in this very journal that is so lighted up
with the records of God's goodness, the dark shadows of conscious sin
and guilt. Even in the midst of abounding mercies and interpositions he
suffered from temptations to distrust and disobedience, and sometimes
had to mourn their power over him, as when once he found himself
inwardly complaining of the cold leg of mutton which formed the staple
of his Sunday dinner! We discover as we read that we are communing with
a man who was not only of like passions with ourselves, but who felt
himself rather more than most others subject to the sway of evil, and
needing therefore a special keeping power. Scarce had he started upon
his new path of entire dependence on God, when he confessed himself "so
sinful" as for some time to entertain the thought that "it would be of
no use to trust in the Lord in this way," and fearing that he had
perhaps gone already too far in this direction in having committed
himself to such a course.* True, this temptation was speedily overcome
and Satan confounded; but from time to time similar fiery darts were
hurled at him which had to be quenched by the same shield of faith.
Never, to the last hour of life, could he trust himself, or for one
moment relax his hold on God, and neglect the word of God and prayer,
without falling into sin. The 'old man,' of sin always continued too
strong for George Muller alone, and the longer he lived a 'life of
trust' the less was his trust placed upon himself.
* Vol. I. 73.
Another fact that grows more conspicuous with the perusal of every new
page in his journal is that in things common and small, as well as
uncommon and great, he took no step without first asking counsel of the
oracles of God and seeking guidance from Him in believing prayer. It was
his life-motto to learn the will of God before undertaking anything, and
to wait till it is clear, because only so can one either be blessed in
his own soul or prospered in the work of his hands.* Many disciples who
are comparatively bold to seek God's help in great crises, fail to come
to Him with like boldness in matters that seem too trivial to occupy the
thought of God or invite the interposition of Him who numbers the very
hairs of our heads and suffers not one hair to perish. The writer of
this journal escaped this great snare and carried even the smallest
matter to the Lord.
* Vol. I. 74.
Again, in his journal he constantly seeks to save from reproach the good
name of Him whom he serves: he cannot have such a God accounted a hard
Master. So early as July, 1831, a false rumour found circulation that he
and his wife were half-starving and that certain bodily ailments were
the result of a lack of the necessities of life; and he is constrained
to put on record that, though often brought so low as not to have one
penny left and to have the last bread on the table, they had never yet
sat down to a meal unprovided with some nourishing food. This witness
was repeated from time to time, and until just before his departure for
the Father's house on high; and it may therefore be accepted as covering
that whole life of faith which reached over nearly threescore years and
ten.
A kindred word of testimony, first given at this same time and in like
manner reiterated from point to point in his pilgrimage, concerns the
Lord's faithfulness in accompanying His word with power, in accordance
with that positive and unequivocal promise in Isaiah lv. 11: "My word
shall not return unto Me void; but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." It is very
noticeable that this is not said of _man's_ word, however wise,
important, or sincere, but of _God's_ word. We are therefore justified
in both expecting and claiming that, just so far as our message is not
of human invention or authority, but is God's message through us, it
shall never fail to accomplish His pleasure and its divine errand,
whatever be its apparent failure at the time. Mr. Muller, referring to
his own preaching, bears witness that in almost if not quite every place
where he spoke God's word, whether in larger chapels or smaller rooms,
the Lord gave the seal of His own testimony. He observed, however, that
blessing did not so obviously or abundantly follow his open-air
services: only in one instance had it come to his knowledge that there
were marked results, and that was in the case of an army officer who
came to make sport. Mr. Muller thought that it might please the Lord not
to let him see the real fruit of his work in open-air meetings, or that
there had not been concerning them enough believing prayer; but he
concluded that such manner of preaching was not his present work, since
God had not so conspicuously sealed it with blessing.
His journal makes very frequent reference to the physical weakness and
disability from which he suffered.
The struggle against bodily infirmity was almost life-long, and adds a
new lesson to his life-story. The strength of faith had to triumph over
the weakness of the flesh. We often find him suffering from bodily ills,
and sometimes so seriously as to be incapacitated for labour.
For example, early in 1832 he broke a blood-vessel in the stomach and
lost much blood by the hemorrhage. The very day following was the Lord's
day, and four outside preaching stations needed to be provided for, from
which his disablement would withdraw one labourer to take his place at
home. After an hour of prayer he felt that faith was given him to rise,
dress, and go to the chapel; and, though very weak, so that the short
walk wearied him, he was helped to preach as usual. After the service a
medical friend remonstrated against his course as tending to permanent
injury; but he replied that he should himself have regarded it
presumptuous had not the Lord given him the faith. He preached both
afternoon and evening, growing stronger rather than weaker with each
effort, and suffering from no reaction afterward.
In reading Mr. Muller's biography and the record of such experiences, it
is not probable that all will agree as to the wisdom of his course in
every case. Some will commend, while others will, perhaps, condemn. He
himself qualifies this entry in his journal with a wholesome caution
that no reader should in such a matter follow his example, who _has not
faith given him;_ but assuring him that if God does give faith so to
undertake for Him, such trust will prove like good coin and be honoured
when presented. He himself did not always pursue a like course, because
he had not always a like faith, and this leads him in his journal to
draw a valuable distinction between the _gift of faith_ and the _grace
of faith,_ which deserves careful consideration.
He observed that repeatedly he prayed with the sick till they were
restored, he _asking unconditionally for the blessing of bodily health,_
a thing which, he says, later on, he could not have done. Almost always
in such cases the petition was granted, yet in some instances not. Once,
in his own case, as early as 1829, he had been healed of a bodily
infirmity of long standing, and which never returned. Yet this same man
of God subsequently suffered from disease which was not in like manner
healed, and in more than one case submitted to a costly operation at the
hands of a skilful surgeon.
Some will doubtless say that even this man of faith lacked the faith
necessary for the healing of his own body; but we must let him speak for
himself, and especially as he gives his own view of the gift and the
grace of faith. He says that the _gift_ of faith is exercised, whenever
we "do or believe a thing where the not doing or not believing would
_not_ be sin"; but the _grace_ of faith, "where we do or believe what
not to do or believe _would_ be sin"; in one case we have no unequivocal
command or promise to guide us, and in the other we have. The gift of
faith is not always in exercise, but the grace must be, since it has the
definite word of God to rest on, and the absence or even weakness of
faith in such circumstances implies sin. There were instances, he adds,
in which it pleased the Lord at times to bestow upon him something like
the gift of faith so that he could ask unconditionally and expect
confidently.
This journal we may now dismiss as a whole, having thus looked at the
general features which characterize its many pages. But let it be
repeated that to any reader who will for himself carefully examine its
contents its perusal will prove a means of grace. To read a little at a
time, and follow it with reflection and self-examination, will be found
most stimulating to faith, though often most humiliating by reason of
the conscious contrast suggested by the reader's unbelief and
unfaithfulness. This man lived peculiarly with God and in God, and his
senses were exercised to discern good and evil. His conscience became
increasingly sensitive and his judgment singularly discriminating, so
that he detected fallacies where they escape the common eye, and foresaw
dangers which, like hidden rocks ahead, risk damage and, perhaps,
destruction to service if not to character. And, therefore, so far is
the writer of this memoir from desiring to displace that journal, that
he rather seeks to incite many who have not read it to examine it for
themselves. It will to such be found to mark a path of close daily walk
with God, where, step by step, with circumspect vigilance, conduct and
even motive are watched and weighed in God's own balances.
To sum up very briefly the impression made by the close perusal of this
whole narrative with the supplementary annual reports, it is simply
this: CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
In a little sketch of Beate Paulus, the Frau Pastorin pleads with God in
a great crisis not to forsake her, quaintly adding that she was "willing
to be the second whom He might forsake," but she was "determined not to
be the _first."_* George Muller believed that, in all ages, there had
never yet been one true and trusting believer to whom God had proven
false or faithless, and he was perfectly sure that He could be safely
trusted who, "if we believe not, yet abideth faithful: He cannot deny
Himself."** God has not only _spoken,_ but _sworn;_ His word is
confirmed by His oath: because He could swear by no greater He sware by
Himself. And all this that we might have a strong consolation; that we
might have boldness in venturing upon Him, laying hold and holding fast
His promise. Unbelief makes God a _liar_ and, worse still, a _perjurer,_
for it accounts Him as not only false to His word, but to His oath.
George Muller believed, and because he believed, prayed; and praying,
expected; and expecting, received. Blessed is he that believes, for
there shall be a performance of those things which are spoken of the
Lord.
* Faith's Miracles, p. 43.
** 2 Timothy ii. 13.