ReFocus

More than anything in this life, I want to be a George Mueller before I die. George Mueller has proved to the world the truth of Philippians 4:19 and he will always be remembered as the man who got things from God. His testimony is an inspiration to Christians everywhere. Three weeks after his marriage, he and his wife decided to depend on God alone to supply their needs–never again to approach people about them. Now he felt led to relinquish his small salary as a preacher completely. Wishing that all support be spontaneous, he put a box in the chapel for his needs; determining never to run into debt, and to get his needs supplied only by requests to God Himself.

Among the greatest monuments of what can be accomplished through simple faith in God are the great orphanages covering thirteen acres of ground on Ashley Downs, Bristol, England. When God put it into the heart of George Muller to build these orphanages, he had only two shillings (50 cents) in his pocket. Without making his wants known to any man, but to God alone, over a million, four hundred thousand pounds ($7,000,000) were sent to him for the building and maintaining of these orphan homes.

The reason he is so adamant about this is that his whole life—especially in the way he supported the orphans by faith and prayer without asking anyone but God for money—was consciously planned to encourage Christians that God could really be trusted to meet their needs. We will never understand George Mueller’s passion for the orphan ministry if we don’t see that the good of the orphans was second to this.

The three chief reasons for establishing an Orphan-House are: 1. That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare.

And make no mistake about it: the order of those three goals is intentional. He makes that explicit over and over in his Narrative. The orphan houses exist to display that God can be trusted and to encourage believers to take him at his word. This was a deep sense of calling with Mueller. He said that God had given him the mercy in “being able to take God by His word and to rely upon it.” He was grieved that “so many believers . . . were harassed and distressed in mind, or brought guilt on their consciences, on account of not trusting in the Lord.” This grace that he had to trust God’s promises, and this grief that so many believers didn’t trust his promises, shaped Mueller’s entire life. This was his supreme passion: to display with open proofs that God could be trusted with the practical affairs of life. This was the higher aim of building the orphan houses and supporting them by asking God, not people, for money.

Listen to George Mueller’s own words, “We have had a vivid vision of the divine Potter sitting at His wheel, taking the clay in His hands, softening its hardness, subduing it to His own will; then gradually and skillfully shaping from it the earthen vessel; then baking it in His oven of discipline till it attained the requisite solidity and firmness, then filling it with the rich treasures of His word and Spirit, and finally setting it down where He would have it serve His special uses in conveying to others the excellency of His power!”

To lose sight of this sovereign shaping Hand is to miss one of the main lessons God means to teach us by George Mueller’s whole career. He himself saw and felt that he was only an earthen vessel; that God had both chosen and filled him for the work he was to do; and, while this conviction made him happy in his work, it made him humble, and the older he grew the humbler he became. He felt more and more his own utter insufficiency. It grieved him that human eyes should ever turn away from the Master to the servant, and he perpetually sought to avert their gaze from himself to God alone. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Mueller believed in prayer. The following are his key prayer principles: “Five grand conditions of prevailing prayer were ever before his mind:

1. Entire dependence upon the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground of any claim for blessing. (See John xiv.13,14; xv.16, etc.)

2. Separation from all known sin. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us, for it would be sanctioning sin. (Psalm Ixvi.18.)

3. Faith in God’s word of promise as confirmed by His oath. Not to believe Him is to make Him both a liar and a perjurer. (Hebrews xi.6; vi.13-20.)

4. Asking in accordance with His will. Our motives must be godly: we must not seek any gift of God to consume it upon our own lusts. (1 John v.13; James iv.3.)

5. Importunity in supplication. There must be waiting on God and waiting for God, as the husbandman has long patience to wait for the harvest. (James v.7; Luke xviii.1-10.)

The importance of firmly fixing in mind principles such as these cannot be overstated.

• The first lays the basis of all prayer, in our oneness with the great High Priest.
• The second states a condition of prayer, found in abandonment of sin.
• The third reminds us of the need honouring God by faith that He is, and is the Rewarder of the diligent seeker.
• The fourth reveals the sympathy with God that helps us to ask what is for our good and His glory.
• The last teaches us that, having laid hold of God in prayer, we are to keep hold until His arm is outstretched in blessing.”

The Church of Jesus Christ needs some George Mueller’s now more than ever. Dare to be a Mueller!

God bless you.

There is tremendous comfort and joy when you know that you are in the center of God’s will! Most of the time we rarely see that the events of our day are being ordered by one Who is infinitely wise in all His planning. When we can line our lives with His plan, we have reached the ‘sweet spot’ of life. God is preparing situations and circumstances long before we reach the intersections of life. He is pulling strings as a great Puppeteer to bring about his purpose and plan for our lives. Sometimes these things may seem to be out of control or strange and without meaning. But remember this…nothing is by chance; there is no coincidence; and nothing happens without His control!

One of the great works of literature that illustrates this the most is the Book of Esther…which happens to be one of the 66 books that make up what we know as the Bible. Esther is the only book in the Bible that never mentions God but He is in every chapter as the Blessed Controller of all things. There are four main characters in this book: 1. Xerxes who is the King of Persia. 2. Haman who is the king’s right hand man, and the villain of the story. 3. Esther, a young Jewish woman, and the winner of the first Miss Persia contest and the queen of Persia. 4. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle and step-father, who was a prominent member of the Jewish community.

The book of Esther focuses more on Mordecai than on Esther. It is Mordecai who is the most involved and most important human in bringing about the deliverance of the Jews from a planned extermination of them which is the main story of the book. Mordecai and Esther had risen to positions of prominence in King Xerxes’ court. But the king didn’t know Mordecai was Esther’s uncle–and he also didn’t know that Esther was a Jew.

Esther 3:1-6 (GW)

Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman. (Haman was the son of Hammedatha and was from Agag.) He gave Haman a position higher in authority than all the other officials who were with him. [2] All the king’s advisers were at the king’s gate, kneeling and bowing to Haman with their faces touching the ground, because the king had commanded it. But Mordecai would not kneel and bow to him.

[3] Then the king’s advisers at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you ignore the king’s command?” [4] Although they asked him day after day, he paid no attention to them. So they informed Haman to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

[5] When Haman saw that Mordecai did not kneel and bow to him, Haman was infuriated. [6] Because the king’s advisers had informed him about Mordecai’s nationality, he thought it beneath himself to kill only Mordecai. So Haman planned to wipe out Mordecai’s people—all the Jews in the entire kingdom of Xerxes.

Here is another plan of Satan to stop the plans of God by wiping out the Jews…and eliminate the lineage leading to the coming of the Messiah! Mordecai didn’t come to the conclusion that he shouldn’t bow down to Haman, all by himself. God specifically stated that in the 10 commandments. As a good Jewish boy, he had been taught this command from an early age. So, Mordecai didn’t have to guess at what was the right thing to do–he knew it based on God’s Word. Mordecai wanted Esther to approach the king on his behalf. Esther was not so instructed as Mordecai…we see this in her confusion and hesitancy in approaching the king.

Esther 4:6-8 (GW)

So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate. [7] Mordecai informed him about everything that had happened to him. He told him the exact amount of silver that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasury to destroy the Jews. [8] He also gave him a copy of the decree that was issued in Susa. The decree gave permission to exterminate the Jews. Hathach was supposed to show it to Esther to inform and command her to go to the king, beg him for mercy, and appeal to him for her people.

Esther 4:10-17 (GW)

Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to say to Mordecai, [11] “All the king’s advisers and the people in the king’s provinces know that no one approaches the king in the throne room without being summoned. By law that person must be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to him will he live. I, myself, have not been summoned to enter the king’s presence for 30 days now.” [12] So Esther’s servants told Mordecai what Esther said.

[13] Mordecai sent this answer back to Esther, “Do not imagine that just because you are in the king’s palace you will be any safer than all the rest of the Jews. [14] The fact is, even if you remain silent now, someone else will help and rescue the Jews, but you and your relatives will die. And who knows, you may have gained your royal position for such a time as this.”

[15] Esther sent this reply back to Mordecai, [16] “Assemble all the Jews in Susa. Fast for me: Do not eat or drink at all for three entire days. My servants and I will also fast. After that, I will go to the king, even if it is against a royal decree. If I perish, I perish.”

[17] Mordecai did just as Esther had commanded him.

What are the underlying principles illustrated here?

1. Determine what is the right thing to do…based on the principles of Scripture and when necessary, the counsel of godly men and women. Esther valued the counsel of Mordecai because it was based on God’s Word.
2. Take courageous action…for I am here for such a time as this! Esther determined to make a courageous step because it was the right thing to do.
3. Leave the results to God…if I perish, I perish!

The end of the story, as far as Esther and Mordecai are concerned, is that Esther was successful. The King welcomed her. Haman was executed for his wicked plot against the Jews. The Jewish nation was saved from annihilation. And, even beyond that, Mordecai became the number two man in the kingdom. What a great ending to Esther and Mordecai’s story!

But what about your story? Are you going to take the safe, secure, easy route? Or will you determine what is right….take courageous action….and leave the results to God?