George Müller's Empty Plates and Overflowing Tables

In 1838, George Müller sat at the head of a long table in his Bristol orphanage, staring at three hundred empty bowls. There was no food in the kitchen. Not a single loaf of bread, not a drop of milk. The children were already seated, hands folded, waiting for breakfast.

Müller bowed his head and prayed aloud: "Dear Father, we thank You for what You are going to give us to eat."

A knock came at the door. The local baker stood on the step, flour dusting his apron. "Mr. Müller, I couldn't sleep last night. Something compelled me to get up at two in the morning and bake fresh bread for your children." Before Müller could respond, a milk cart pulled up behind the baker. The driver explained that his cart had broken down directly outside the orphanage and the milk would spoil unless someone took it immediately.

Over his lifetime, Müller cared for over ten thousand orphans, never once asking for a single donation. He simply gave everything he had and trusted the Almighty to replenish it. By the time he died in 1898, more than one and a half million pounds had passed through his hands — every bit of it unsolicited.