sus three years into Arabia before he sent him as an apostle to the
nations, and who left even His own Son thirty years in obscurity before
His manifestation as Messiah--this God is in no hurry to put other
servants at work. He says to all impatient souls: "My time is not yet
full come, but your time is always ready."

Only twice after this did George Muller ever resort to the lot: once at
a literal parting of the ways when he was led by it to take the wrong
fork of the road, and afterward in a far more important matter, but with
a like result: in both cases he found he had been misled, and henceforth
abandoned all such chance methods of determining the mind of God. He
learned two lessons, which new dealings of God more and more deeply
impressed:

First, that the safe guide in every crisis is believing prayer in
connection with the word of God.

Secondly, that continued uncertainty as to one's course is a reason for
continued waiting.

These lessons should not be lightly passed over, for they are too
valuable. The flesh is impatient of all delay, both in decision and
action; hence all carnal choices are immature and premature, and all
carnal courses are mistaken and unspiritual. God is often moved to delay
that we may be led to pray, and even the answers to prayer are deferred
that the natural and carnal spirit may be kept in check and self-will
may bow before the will of God.

In a calm review of his course many years later George Muller saw that
he "ran hastily to the lot" as a shorter way of settling a doubtful
matter, and that, especially in the question of God's call to the
mission field, this was shockingly improper. He saw also how unfit he
had been at that time for the work he sought: he should rather have
asked himself how one so ignorant and so needing to be taught could
think of teaching others! Though a child of God, he could not as yet
have given a clear statement or explanation of the most elementary
gospel truths. The one thing needful was therefore to have sought
through much prayer and Bible study to get first of all a deeper
knowledge and a deeper experience of divine things. Impatience to settle
a matter so important was itself seen to be a positive disqualification
for true service, revealing unfitness to endure hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. There is a constant strain and drain on patient
waiting which is a necessary feature of missionary trial and
particularly the trial of deferr