Page 62 - Living Epistles

myself to be supported by him, when he had no prospect that I should become
what he would wish me to be, namely, a clergyman with a good living. This
resolution I was enabled to keep.

There comes a time in the life of all those who would be true disciples of
Christ, when they must face the cost of following Him wherever He might lead
them. The plans of the Lord are quite often not the plans that our parents,
brothers and sisters, wife, or children would choose for us. For this reason,
Christ exhorted all who would truly be His disciples to consider carefully the
cost.

Luke 14:25-27
Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to
them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life
(psuche - soul), he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own
cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

I have found that most Christians make but small progress in a life of faith and
in conformity to Christ until after they are brought to count the cost of
surrendering all to Christ and accepting it. It is at this point that the Spirit
begins to lead a person down paths that they would not have chosen for
themselves, but which result in much spiritual growth. As one continues down
in this life of surrender it will eventually lead to much fruitfulness.

There is very little fruit among Christians today, very little evidence of
conformity to Christ, because there is such an absence of surrender. Christians
today largely believe that being a disciple does not require the same radical
commitment observed among the early saints of Scripture.

This surrender of our will to God very often results in hardship and trials and
sorrow to those who take God’s will to be their own. Yet the very things we
consider hardships and distresses are the experiences Yahweh uses to lead us
forth into a life of faith and obedience that will one day bear much fruit. So it
was with George Muller. His willingness to surrender the direction of his life
to God brought immediate rejection from his earthly father. His previous
means of support was cut-off, but this was exactly what was needed in order
to begin to teach this son of God to begin looking to his heavenly Father for all
things.