George Muller an Unlikely Preacher

His father wanted George Muller to be a preacher.  The reason? So that he would have a comfortable life.  But his favorite pastime was indulging in sinful practices.  His mother died suddenly when he was 14 years old.  That night he played cards until 2 in the morning and went to the bar the next day.  Her death made no lasting impression on him.  Instead he grew worse.

As years went by he kept making resolutions to become different, but was breaking them almost as fast as he made them.  He was glad that his father obtained an appointment for him at a school near Magdeburg because he thought that if he left his sinful companions that he would have a different life.  But it did not work.  He continued to live in all sorts of sin.

He went on a pleasure trip where he spent six days in sin. He took all the money he could find and spent it on an expensive hotel.  When the money ran out he went to another hotel and lived it up.  When the hotel suspected that he had no money they took his best clothes at security.

He goes to another inn and gets arrested.  At the age of 16 George Muller is an inmate of a prison, dwelling with thieves and murderers.  After over a year his father sent the money for his debt and for the stay in prison.

At age 20 he received permission to preach but he felt as truly unhappy and far from God as ever.  He resolved to change because unless he reformed no parish would choose him as pastor.  His resolutions disappeared and he resumed his loose living even though he was in the seminary.

Deep in his heart he longed to renounce his wretched life.  He knew in the end it would ruin him, but he felt no sorrow about offending God.

He kept saying he would change but could not.  He writes in his diary. “God whom I dishonored by my wicked behavior and unrepentant spirit had not given up on me.”

George Muller’s problem was that he was not saved.  He had no personal relationship with the Lord.  If you had no idea who he was and if you only looked at his early life, you would never think that God would use him.  You would look at him and predict a future for him that was full of wickedness and a terrible, tragic sad end to his life.

But thanks to the grace of God that is not what happened.  We will learn many things by going over the life of George Muller.  The first thing we learn is that God’s mercy and grace are offered to the wicked. And that if the wicked turn and get saved then God can use them for His glory.

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