George Mueller

From Darkness to Light

GAMES:

Pictionary?

Chairball?

Unwavering Faith amidst unending trials.

What is success?

What is failure?

What would success be for you at 25?

What would failure be for you at 25?

_____________________

George Muller was born in 1805 and lived to 1898.

He lived to be 93 years old.

In his lifetime, both of his wives passed away leaving him to be a widow twice over.

EARLY DAYS:

As a young man, Muller’s father (Johann) was a tax collector which was a wealthy profession in Prussia.

- Prussia no longer exists, but it used to include central and eastern Europe. Countries like Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia were partially included in this region.

- Muller spoke German as his native tongue, but in his lifetime he learned to speak 6 different languages.

In his childhood, Muller’s father often left money around their home.

George got used to stealing small amounts from his dad.

This led to George stealing more and more as he got older.

As a a young man, he would even go to inn’s or hotels and stay the night and then leave without paying the bill.

He would even come up with schemes to get his friends to loan him money with no intention of ever paying them back.

And this is how he lived much of his early life.

Stealing, swindling, and using his words to get others to do what he wanted them to do.

This lifestyle eventually landed him in jail for a short time before his father got him out.

Now there is much more to say here, but up until this point:

Would you consider Muller’s life a failure or a success?

certainly I think we would all consider his life failure from what we know.

But let’s continue looking.

George soon went to a university where he again took advantage of friends and found ways to steal money.

However, during this time (and this is hilarious to me) George’s dad had pushed him to become a Lutheran pastor.

Lutheran was the official state church of Prussia and these pastors were well respected and well paid.

Let me just pause and give you a gentle note: if you desire to become a pastor in America in 2025, this would not be the advice you would receive haha.

In other words nobody is becoming a pastor in 2025 because you are well respected and well paid.

Moving on,

George, while in school to become a Lutheran Pastor, was also quite the party-er.

He would go to the bars and pubs and drink and tell (apparently very good) stories.

However, George’s lifestyle and habits continued to catch up with him and land him in trouble.

One friend of George, named Beta, invited him to a Bible study.

Through this Bible study, God changed George’s life and he became a Christian.

Up until this point, George’s life had been marked by lies, robbery, being a thief, and living for money and self.

But, now God had changed his life completely.

Colossians 1:13–14 “13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

George Muller had certainly been rescued from the dominion of darkness and found redemption in Jesus.

In 1829, at 24 years of age, Mueller went to England and met one of the most influential men in his life Henry Craik.

Craik talked to Muller often about people who lived completely at the mercy of God for their financial means and gave most of their finances to God.

Craik also invited Muller to be a pastor at a small church of 18 people in the English town of Teignmouth (pronounced Tin-Myth).

Muller also met his wife during this time named Mary.

One crazy story from their early marriage came when Muller came home one day and Mary had decorated the house and made it a home.

Muller looked at it though and was clearly saddened and frustrated.

When they talked about it, Muller told Mary that she knew he would likely be moving a lot as a pastor and that they simply had too much stuff.

Therefore, they concluded they needed to sell off most of their belongings, so they did…

Guys, I do not suggest proposing that to your bride shortly after marriage… just my 2 cents.

During this time there was a significant outbreak of Cholera.

This sickness often comes from drinking contaminated water.

This resulted in many kids becoming orphans from their parents dying.

The options for orphans at that time was basically go to a poor house which was government slavery. (seriously go read about them).

Or try not to die on the streets… that was it.

This is essentially what Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens is about by the way…

Now, Muller began to consider how he could help these children and this is really where Muller’s story becomes his legacy.

George and Mary began to pray about how God could use them to help these orphans.

As the Muller’s prayed, people asked them how they were going to start an orphanage to which George always replied “God will provide.”

Finally, the day came where they had a house, furnishings, everything they needed and they opened the orphanage.

However, day 1, despite the rampant population of orphans in Bristol, none came.

As they sat down disappointed that evening, Mary jokingly told George that they had prayed for God to provide all that they needed for the orphanage and that God had provided it, but there was one thing they never prayed for.

George asked her what it was?

And she said “The children! We never prayed for kids...”

So they did right there and the next day they had girls come and soon had filled the home with 30 girls.

Over the next 2 years he opened 2 more homes for a total of 3 homes.

Often times, they would not have any food for the children, and they would pray, and God would provide.

There was no salary, no budget, no consistent financial stability for the orphanages, it was all taken to God in prayer.

Very stressful!

After a few years living in the 3 homes, it became apparent that they needed more space.

So God provided the property of Ashley Downs which was on top of the hill overlooking Bristol.

Ashley downs over the next 2 decades became four homes that cared for over 2000 children.

Rumors surrounded Ashley downs that children were not well cared for, which attracted the attention of none other than Charles Dickens himself.

He came and spent some time at Ashley downs and then wrote a piece called “household words” defending George Muller and sharing about the incredible work being done there.

One of the most famous and (my personal favorite) story from Mueller came in 1862.

As they gathered for breakfast one morning with 300 orphans and other staff members, they had no food that day.

When they questioned Muller he simply said “God will provide.”

He then told everyone to sit and he would pray.

As he prayed he simply said, “God we thank you for what you are going to give us to eat. Amen.”

Shortly after, there was a knock at the door.

The town baker was there and told him that God had awoken him in the middle of the night and he had an overwhelming feeling that the orphanage needed bread, so he had baked a truckload of bread for them.

Within a few minutes, the children were now eating bread.

A few minutes after this, there was another knock at the door.

The milk man had broken down and he needed to fix the wheel on his cart.

However, the only way to fix it was to unload all the milk and it would go to waste if they could not take it.

The orphanage happily took the milk and there was enough for everyone to eat breakfast and leftover for lunch as well.

In the 63 years that Muller ran the orphanage, he cared for over 10,000 orphans.

He went from being a boy who stole from his father to praying and depending on God to meet all his needs.

In his lifetime, over 1.5 million pounds was given to Muller that all of it was given to others.

This is estimated to be about $25 million in today’s dollars.

One such ministry that Muller supported was the China Inland Mission run by Hudson Taylor.

During one difficult time for the CIM, Muller had sent enough money to support every missionary at the China Inland Mission.

His biography concludes, “Today the lives of those George touched, as well as the manner in which he lived his own life, are a demonstration to every Christian of the impact a life of simple faith can have.”

George Muller is a man of prayer and simplicity.

Was he a success?

Let’s discuss that more in groups tonight.