George Müller lived in the 1800s and, in his own words, began an orphanage so “that God might be magnified by the fact, that the orphans under my care are provided with all they need, only by prayer and faith without anyone being asked by me or my fellow-laborers whereby it may be seen, that God is FAITHFUL STILL, and HEARS PRAYERS STILL.”
To put that into today’s language: Mr. Müller started an orphanage without asking anyone for help – ever. Why? He simply wanted to show believers that God still answers prayer and can be taken at His word. Prayer by prayer, God provided for and sustained not one; not two; but five orphanages and over 1,000 children through Mr. Müller.
Now, I have nowhere near the faith of George Müller, but fortunately, I do have the same God; a faithful God; a God who still answers the smallest and the greatest requests from His children who believe that He answers prayer. Case in point.
I recently returned some equipment to a vendor through a locally operated shipping carrier franchise. (And by recently, I mean February.) The store was busy when I dropped the equipment off. So, after being assured by the customer service representative that “they do these all the time,” I left without a tracking number for the shipment. (Yeah, yeah. I know.)
You can imagine the gasp that escaped my lips as I opened a bill the other day, and it was singing to the tune of $300 in unreturned equipment charges! (Oopsie. I guess I should have gotten that tracking number after all.)
So, yesterday, without one inkling of evidence and with a prayer of undeserved favor on my lips, I called one company and then another. My conversation with the first company went well, but I cannot say the same for the second. In my attempt to get a tracking number, I was greeted by overly-sensitive and defensive employees both on the phone and in person. I tried to remain calm to the best of my ability while remaining firm (not a balance that I am good at), so I was not surprised when I left the store (sans tracking number) flustered and irritated.
As I closed the car door, I silently prayed, “God, that $300 was money I was putting toward my mission trip this summer. It can go to this company or it can go to further Your kingdom, but I’m not going to fight for this $300 when I do not have a leg to stand on.”
I attempted to call the store this morning, but no one answered. Then, later this afternoon, an odd thing happened. The manager of the store called me with the tracking number! Did you catch that? THEY called ME. My mouth hung open so wide an airplane could have sailed right in!
With the tracking number in hand, I was assured by the company that my account would be credited the $300 for returning the equipment.
Three cheers for The Almighty! The same yesterday, today and forever!