The Quiet Faith of George Müller

In 1836, George Müller opened an orphanage in Bristol, England, with almost nothing — two shillings in his pocket and a conviction that God alone would provide. His friends thought him reckless. Wealthy critics built their empires through aggressive fundraising and self-promotion, their names splashed across society pages. Müller refused to ask a single person for a single penny.

Instead, he prayed. He committed his way to the Lord and simply waited.

There were mornings when three hundred children sat at empty tables, and Müller bowed his head to give thanks for a meal that had not yet arrived. Minutes later, a baker would knock at the door with fresh bread he had felt compelled to bake at two in the morning. A milk cart would break down directly outside the orphanage, and the driver would offer his entire load before it spoiled.

Over sixty years, Müller cared for more than ten thousand orphans and received the equivalent of over one hundred million dollars in today's currency — without ever making a public appeal. The schemers and self-promoters of Victorian England are largely forgotten. Müller's quiet faithfulness still speaks.

Psalm 37 invites us into this same unhurried trust: "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." The psalmist promises that those who wait patiently for the Lord will not be put to shame. The wicked bluster and grab, but the meek — the Müllers of this world — inherit the earth, one answered prayer at a time.