The captain of a steamer ship tells of his experience of meeting George Mueller.
“One of the most extraordinary things happened which, has completely revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. Up to that time I was one of your ordinary Christians. We had a man of God on board, George Mueller, of Bristol. I had been on the ship’s bridge for twenty-two hours and never left it. I was startled by some one tapping me on the shoulder. It was George Mueller:
“‘Captain, he said, ‘I have come to tell you that I must be In Quebec on Saturday afternoon.’ This was Wednesday.
“‘It is impossible,’ I said.
“‘Very well, if your ship can’t take me, God will find some other means of locomotion to take me. I have never broken an engagement in fifty seven years.’
“’I would willingly help you. How can I? I am helpless.’
“‘Let us go down to the chart-room and pray.’
“I looked at that man of God, and I thought to myself, what lunatic asylum could that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing.
“‘Mr. Mueller,’ I said, ‘do you know how dense the fog is?’
“‘No,’ he replied, ‘my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.’
“He got down on his knees and prayed one of the most simple prayers. I muttered to myself: ‘That would suit a children’s class where the children were not more than eight or nine years old.’ The burden of his prayer was something like this: ‘O Lord, if it is consistent with Thy will, please remove this fog in five minutes. You know the engagement you made for me in Quebec Saturday. I believe it is your will.’
“When he finished. I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. “First, you do not believe He will; and second. I believe He already has. And there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.’ I looked at him, and George Mueller said..
“‘Captain. I have known my Lord for forty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to gain an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone.’ I got up, and the fog was gone!”
George Mueller had learned the VITAL and IMPORTANT lesson in the Christian life. God CAN and WILL do what He promises to do in our lives. God has promised to meet and supply ALL of our needs, and when we FAITHFULLY trust Him, obey His Word, and seek with all of our hearts to follow Him, He CAN and WILL do AMAZING things in our lives.
Many people are like that ship’s captain. They claim to be a Christian, yet they really have no faith in God as it pertains to their daily needs and life. Oh, they trusted Him as their Savior, but somehow they feel although He can save them from their sin and provide them a home in heaven when they die, He is unable to handle the day-to-day difficulties or problems they may face. That is one of the reasons so many Christians fail to see God really work. They don’t TRULY believe He will. Oh, they believe He “could if He wanted to…”, but they doubt.
Read at what James wrote in James 1:5-8, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Time and again during Jesus’ earthly ministry, people came to Him asking him to heal them or their loved ones and constantly Jesus said, “If you BELIEVE…” or “according to your FAITH…”.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
God is able to do ANYTHING at all. We simply must learn to give Him COMPLETE control of EVERYTHING in our lives and then TRUST that He who created us will do what is PERFECT and RIGHT. When we start following Him and doing what He commands, we have NOTHING to worry about. We can place our faith and our life in His hands and allow Him to do what ONLY GOD CAN DO!
I care not today what tomorrow may bring,
If shadow or sunshine or rain,
The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,
And all of my worry is vain.
Living by faith in Jesus above,
Trusting, confiding in His great love;
From all harm safe in His sheltering arm,
I’m living by faith and I feel no alarm.
Have FAITH IN GOD!