God Came Through
True stories, outside the Bible, of moments when God answered prayer or provided. Each is told as far as possible in the person’s own words, from accounts published before 1931, with a takeaway for today and a link to read the original.
Jehovah’s Rain
John G. Paton · 1862 · Tanna, New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
Church on fire, clubs raised over his head, and the flames heading for the house.
The story, in their own words
Tanna, 1862. Paton and the Mathiesons were trapped in the mission house while attackers set the church alight. If the fire spread, they would all die. Paton begged to be let out: “Be quick! Leave that to God. In a few minutes our house will be in flames, and then nothing can save us.”
He ran to the burning fence and tore it down. Then “Seven or eight savages had surrounded me, and raised their great clubs in air. I heard a shout--‘Kill him! Kill him!’” He faced them, praying: “our God is here now to protect us.” “They yelled in rage, and urged each other to strike the first blow, but the Invisible One restrained them.”
Then: “A rushing and roaring sound came from the South, like the noise of a mighty engine or of muttering thunder.” A tornado struck. “Now, mark, the wind bore the flames away from our dwelling-house.” And a cloud “poured out a perfect torrent of tropical rain.” The attackers “lowered their weapons of war,” crying, “That is Jehovah’s rain! Truly their Jehovah God is fighting for them and helping them. Let us away!”
Back inside, Mathieson exclaimed, “If ever, in time of need, God sent help and protection to His servants in answer to prayer, He has done so to-night! Blessed be His holy Name!”
What happened next: The next day a ship arrived to rescue them (see “Sail O! Sail O!”).
So what?
God commands the weather as surely as He hears a whispered prayer. Paton could not stop a mob or a fire, but God turned the wind and opened the sky. Your enemies and circumstances are never outside His reach.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Today’s step
Name the “fire” closest to your house right now, and ask God to turn the wind.
Source: The Story of John G. Paton, ed. James Paton (A. L. Burt, New York, young folks' edition of the 1889 autobiography), Chapter XLI, The Last Awful Night. Public domain.
All stories
October 16
Open Thy Mouth Wide
No money, no backers, no building, and a prayer for £1,000.
George Müller
October 17 · Today
The Half-Crown
One coin to his name, no dinner tomorrow, and a starving family on the stairs.
J. Hudson Taylor
October 18
A Night in the Chestnut Tree
House looted, boat stolen, men hunting him in the dark, and nowhere to hide but a tree.
John G. Paton
October 19
“Lord, I Take Thee at Thy Word”
A proud young lawyer, alone in the woods, too ashamed to be seen praying.
Charles G. Finney
October 20
“Well, I’m the Corpse”
Six months of appendicitis, a doctor with no hope, and a wife preparing to say goodbye.
Smith Wigglesworth
October 21
Turned Aside by the Snow
A miserable teenager, a snowstorm, and a substitute preacher with almost nothing to say.
C. H. Spurgeon
October 22
The Child Who Came at the Right Time
Seven years old, about to be given to a temple, praying, “Oh, let me die!”
Amy Carmichael
October 23
A Chair at the Table
A widow, a houseful of children, and her oldest boy gone without a word.
D. L. Moody
October 24
Twenty Pounds in the Garden
The fund down from £780 to £20, thirty pounds needed in days, and no one told.
George Müller
October 25
The Late-Night Doctor’s Bill
Salary overdue, rent unpaid, and he had promised God he wouldn’t say a word.
J. Hudson Taylor
October 26
Five Hours in a Canoe
A leaky canoe, a raging sea, and his crew throwing down their paddles.
John G. Paton
October 27
Jehovah’s Rain
Church on fire, clubs raised over his head, and the flames heading for the house.
John G. Paton
October 28
Up and Dressed in Fifteen Minutes
A bride dying days before her wedding, and a doctor who had just said, “No hope.”
Smith Wigglesworth
October 29
A Verse in a Shop Window
Cholera in every street, a funeral every day, and a young pastor ready to sink.
C. H. Spurgeon
October 30
The Night the Ship Was Sinking
Seven hundred people on a broken ship, water gaining on the pumps, and no sail in sight.
D. L. Moody
October 31
The Trinkets That Could Not Wait
Not one penny in the orphan fund, and pounds needed within days.
George Müller
November 1
“You Are a Dead Man”
A needle prick, a deadly infection, and a surgeon telling him to go home and put his affairs in order.
J. Hudson Taylor
November 2
“Sail O! Sail O!”
The final attack was coming at dawn, and they had no way off the island.
John G. Paton
November 3
The Clothes by the Fire
A young man bedridden so long he was fed with a spoon and never dressed.
Smith Wigglesworth
November 4
Five Hundred Pounds and a Ship
A mission with no collections, a party ready for China, and no ship yet.
J. Hudson Taylor
November 5
The Man Who Turned Back
No bread, no money for the milk at nine, and the Lord’s name on the line.
George Müller
November 6
The Walk to Cheapside
Too weak to walk downstairs, two miles to go, and almost no money left.
J. Hudson Taylor
November 7
Rain from Below
A dry island, no fresh water, and the chief sure the missionary would drown digging for it.
John G. Paton
November 8
The Woman on the Train
Seventy years old, on her way to have her leg cut off.
Smith Wigglesworth
November 9
Bread for the Lord’s Day
Saturday night, 8:30, three orphan houses, and no bread for Sunday.
George Müller
November 10
Wind on a Sunday Afternoon
Becalmed, drifting toward reefs, and cannibals lighting fires on the beach.
J. Hudson Taylor
November 11
Just in Time for Tea
Four o’clock, tea at five, and nothing in the cupboards.
George Müller
November 12
A Pound on the Way to the Milk
The milkman due at eight, the fund empty, and Müller praying as he walked.
George Müller
November 13
A Basket of Bread While They Prayed
Saturday evening, nothing for Sunday, and the workers on their knees.
George Müller
November 14
The Sleepless Landowner
A field for a new orphan house, a price too high, and an owner who wasn’t home.
George Müller
About these stories
Retellings are our own, kept to what the sources say. Words in quotation marks inside each story are the person’s own, word for word from the original books, all published before 1931 and in the public domain in the United States. Where a source gives no exact date, the year shown is approximate or the year the account was published.