Faith That Wouldnât Quit: George MĂźller and the Power of Trusting God
Some men build their lives on what they can see, what they can control, what they can stack up with their own two hands. But a real man? He learns to live by something bigger. He learns to walk by faith, even when it doesnât make sense. Even when the world laughs at him. Even when everything says itâs impossible.
George MĂźller wasnât always that kind of man. He was a liar, a thief, a gambler. A smooth talker who knew how to manipulate people to get what he wanted. If you had met him as a young man, you wouldnât have called him righteousâyou would have called him reckless. But God has a way of breaking men down before He builds them up.
One night, MĂźller wandered into a Bible study, probably looking for another easy way to take advantage of people. But something happened. The Word of God cut through his schemes, through his excuses, through his arrogance. That night, he walked out a different man, and from that moment on, he stopped relying on himself and started trusting in something greater.
And thatâs when the real adventure began.
MĂźller felt called to take care of orphansâkids who had no one, just like he had once lived for no one but himself. But hereâs the thing: he refused to ask anyone for money. No fundraising, no letters begging for help. Just prayer. Just faith. Just the absolute, unshakable belief that if God called him to do it, God would provide.
And provide He did.
Time after time, MĂźller sat at an empty table with hungry children and thanked God for food that wasnât there. And every time, food came. Sometimes it was a baker knocking on the door, saying he felt God tell him to bring extra bread. Sometimes it was a milk cart breaking down right outside, forcing the driver to give them everything before it spoiled. People called it coincidenceâMĂźller called it proof.
He built orphanages without asking for a penny. He cared for over 10,000 children in his lifetime, all without a guaranteed dime in his pocket. Why? Because he believed what most men are too scared to test: that God means what He says. That when the Bible says, âMy God will supply all your needsâ (Philippians 4:19), it isnât just a nice thoughtâitâs reality.
MĂźllerâs life wasnât easy. There were days when the money didnât seem like it would come, when the food ran low, when the need was too great. But he never backed down. He never played it safe. He never stopped trusting that God would show up.
And thatâs the lesson.
Any man can trust in himself. Any man can build his life on his own strength. But a real man? He knows where his strength actually comes from.
George MĂźller lived out Matthew 6:33:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
So hereâs the question: What are you holding back from God? What are you too afraid to trust Him with? Because faith that never gets tested isnât faith at all. Itâs just words. And words donât change the worldâfaith does.
A Man Who Wouldnât Back Down: Jim Elliot and the Call of the Wild
A real man isnât measured by the size of his paycheck, the weight on his shoulders, or the power in his hands. Heâs measured by what heâs willing to sacrifice. By his courage to step beyond comfort. By his refusal to let fear dictate his path. The world is full of men who hoard their time, their safety, their livesâthinking that keeping it all means theyâve won. But the truth? A man who never risks anything, never truly lives.
Thatâs where Jim Elliot comes in.
He had everything a man could ask forâa sharp mind, a solid education, a path to success laid out in front of him. But he didnât buy into the worldâs definition of success. He saw something deeper. He believed that life wasnât meant to be gripped with white knucklesâit was meant to be spent, given away for something greater. And that belief took him far from the comforts of home, into the heart of Ecuador, to a tribe known for their violenceâthe Waodani.
These men werenât just set in their waysâthey were warriors, a people who met outsiders with spears instead of words. Everyone else saw them as unreachable, too dangerous, too wild. Jim saw them as men worth dying for.
So, he and his friends spent months trying to build trust, dropping gifts from a small plane, showing patience, showing peace. And when the time came, they landed, stepping onto unfamiliar soil with nothing but faith and conviction. Days later, their bodies were found on the riverbankâspeared by the very people they came to reach.
Most would call it a waste. But Jim had already settled the question long before he ever set foot in the jungle. He once wrote:
âHe is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.â
That wasnât just a thoughtâit was a way of life. Jim understood something most men never grasp: playing it safe is an illusion. You can cling to your life, your security, your controlâbut in the end, you lose it all anyway. The only thing that lasts is what youâre willing to give up for something greater.
And hereâs the thingâhis story didnât end in the river. Years later, his wife and the other widows returned to that same tribe. And this time? The Waodani listened. The same men who had raised their spears in violence laid them down in surrender to Christ. The mission Jim Elliot died for wasnât in vainâit was just getting started.
Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 16:25:
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
So now itâs your turn. What are you holding onto? Whatâs keeping you from stepping beyond comfort, beyond fear, beyond the limits of what the world tells you is safe? Because in the end, the only men who truly live are the ones who arenât afraid to lay it all down.
There’s a love so profound, so scandalously generous, it offends our sense of justice. It steps boldly into the broken, messy places of our hearts and whispers, “You are worth it.”
The love of Jesus is not polite, reserved, or conditional. It doesn’t wait for perfection or even improvement. Instead, this love seeks out the broken, the overlooked, and the forgotten. It embraces the prodigal in his rebellion, touches the untouchable leper, and invites the despised prostitute and tax collector to share a meal. It shatters social norms and defies religious expectations, always moving toward those society chooses to push aside.
Maybe today you’re feeling the sting of rejection, the shame of failure, or the aching void of loneliness. Perhaps you’re hiding wounds too deep to speak aloud, fearing they’ll drive others away. But it’s exactly hereâin this raw, vulnerable spaceâthat Jesus meets us. His love sees every secret, every flaw, every regret, and yet He chooses to move closer, not further away. He doesn’t merely tolerate our imperfections; He passionately seeks to heal, restore, and redeem every broken part of us.
This radical love doesn’t make sense by the world’s standards. Itâs offensive to those who think love should be earned or deserved. But Jesus’ love declares something revolutionary: you cannot lose His affection. You cannot diminish His compassion. Your darkest moments cannot overshadow His relentless pursuit of you. In fact, the darker your night, the more brightly His love shines, relentlessly reminding you of your intrinsic worth.
Today, let your weary heart absorb this truth: Jesus loves you fiercely, fully, and unconditionally. His love is scandalous precisely because it’s given freely, recklessly, and without reservation. This love is powerful enough to change hearts, rewrite stories, and bring life from the ruins of our deepest failures.
Breathe deeply and rest in this truthâHe is for you, always.
Paul says to his friends in the city of Ephesus, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faithâthat you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” âEphesians 3:14-21 (ESV)
Isn’t it interesting that Paul wants us to know the love of Jesus that “surpasses knowledge”? To know something beyond our capacity to fully understand!
A boy who grows up weak has two choicesâstay weak or do something about it. Theodore Roosevelt? He did something about it.
He wasnât born tough. He was sickly, frail, stuck in bed with asthma so bad he could barely breathe some nights. But he had something that mattered far more than natural strengthâhe had fire. His father told him straight: âYou have the mind but not the body, and without the help of the body, the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body.â
Most people today would crumble at that kind of talk. But Teddy? He didnât make excuses. He made himself into a man. He built a gym in his house, learned how to box, and forced his lungs to fight through the asthma. The boy who couldnât breathe became the man who charged up mountains, hunted in the badlands, and took bullets without flinching.
Roosevelt didnât just push himself physicallyâhe pushed against every limitation society tried to put on him. When his wife and mother died on the same day, most men would have given up. He disappeared into the wilderness, not to escape, but to rebuild. He became a cowboy, a rancher, a fighter. And when he came back? He didnât just surviveâhe thrived.
The man took on corrupt politicians, led soldiers into battle, and transformed the nation, all because he refused to let weaknessâphysical or moralâdefine him.
Hereâs the truth: society today is raising weak men. Soft, timid, afraid to take risks, afraid to fight for something that matters. But Roosevelt showed what happens when a man chooses to harden himself for the right reasonsâto become someone God can use. His life reflects 2 Timothy 1:7:
âFor God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.â
You donât have to be born strong. You donât have to come from the right background. What you do have to do? Refuse to let weakness win.
So, whatâs holding you back? Whatâs keeping you soft? More importantlyâwhat are you going to do about it?
Many people call themselves Christians, but Jesus never asked for fansâHe called disciples. To follow Jesus is more than attending church, agreeing with Christian beliefs, or trying to be a good person. It is a call to surrender, transformation, and a life that looks radically different from the world.
A Call to Leave Everything Behind
When Jesus called His disciples, He simply said, âFollow me.â And they did. They left behind their nets, their livelihood, their plans, and even their own understanding of lifeâs purpose (Matthew 4:19-20).
Jesus still calls us in the same way. To follow Him means letting goâof sin, self-sufficiency, comfort, and control. It is a daily decision to lay down our will and trust His.
“Then he said to them all: âWhoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.ââ â Luke 9:23
A Life of Obedience and Love
Jesus didnât just call people to believe in Him; He called them to obey Him. âIf you love me, keep my commandsâ (John 14:15). True discipleship is marked by obedienceânot out of duty, but out of love.
A follower of Jesus prioritizes His words above all else. That means loving enemies (Matthew 5:44), forgiving when itâs hard (Colossians 3:13), and seeking first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). It means trusting Him in uncertainty and standing for truth in a world that rejects it.
A Call to DieâSo That We Can Truly Live
To follow Jesus is to lay down your own life. It is to exchange personal ambition for Godâs purpose, earthly comfort for eternal reward. The world says life is about self-fulfillment, but Jesus says, âWhoever loses their life for my sake will find itâ (Matthew 16:25).
It sounds extremeâbecause it is. But in losing ourselves, we gain something far greater: the life we were always meant to live, in step with the One who created us.
A Relationship, Not Religion
Being a follower of Jesus is not about performing religious dutiesâit is about knowing Him personally. Jesus didnât just preach; He walked with His disciples, ate with them, wept with them, and taught them what it meant to live by faith. He calls us into that same intimate relationship today.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” â John 10:27
To be His follower is to know His voice, walk in His ways, and trust Him completely. It is a journey of faith, dependence, and transformationâone that leads to true life, joy, and eternity with Him.
Call to Action
Are you truly following Jesus, or are you just going through the motions? Take a moment to evaluate your heart. Ask Him to show you areas where you need to surrender, obey, or trust Him more deeply. Following Jesus is a daily decisionâchoose to walk with Him today.
