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The Personal Awakening of George Whitefield · Traveler’s Tales

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  Sometimes the greatest obstacle to God's plan for your life
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  is not the world around you, but the hesitation
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  within you. Most of us imagine that the people God used most
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  were fearless. We picture them stepping confidently into His
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  will, never doubting, never questioning,
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  never struggling. But when you pull back the curtain,
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  you often discover something very different.
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  Before Moses faced Pharaoh, he argued with God.
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  Before Jeremiah preached to a nation, he protested
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  that he was only a child. And before George Whitefield ever
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  stood before crowds of thousands. Before he became the
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  most influential evangelist of the Great Awakening, before his
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  voice echoed across England and colonial America,
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  he was simply a young man terrified that God was asking
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  too much of him. Welcome to Traveler's Tales,
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  produced by Enjoying the Journey. I'm your host,
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  Greg Dowdy. Throughout history, God has written
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  incredible stories through very ordinary people who simply chose
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  to trust Him. Today, we travel back to 18th-century
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  England to meet one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known,
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  not at the height of his ministry, but at the moment he wrestled
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  with the call of God. George Whitefield was born on December
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  16th, 1714, in Gloucester, England, the son of an innkeeper.
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  While attending Oxford University, he joined a small group of earnest
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  young believers that included John and Charles Wesley. It was there,
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  March of 1735, that he experienced genuine
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  conversion through faith in Jesus Christ. Not long afterward,
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  Whitefield sensed God calling him into the ministry. But unlike the
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  bold preacher we often imagine, Whitefield didn't immediately embrace
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  that calling. He resisted it. He feared it. He,
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  he felt completely unworthy. Listen to his own words:
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  I never prayed more earnestly against anything than I did against
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  entering into the service of the church so soon. I have often
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  been in an agony of prayer, Lord, send me not
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  into the vineyard yet. Can you hear the honesty in his words?
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  This wasn't laziness. It wasn't rebellion.
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  It was the overwhelming realization that the work of God was far
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  greater than his own ability. He knew that
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  preaching Christ was no ordinary task. He understood the
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  weight of eternity resting upon every sermon. Like Moses,
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  Whitefield looked at himself and saw only weakness.
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  Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps God
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  has impressed something upon your heart. Maybe he's calling you
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  to teach a Sunday school class, to witness to a co-worker,
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  to serve in ministry. To reconcile a broken relationship,
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  or just simply to take a step of obedience that you've been putting off.
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  And every time the opportunity comes, the same thoughts rise up:
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  I'm not ready. Someone else could do it better. Lord,
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  not yet. You're in good company.
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  Whitefield discovered what every servant of God eventually learns—
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  that God is not looking for people who feel sufficient.
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  He is looking for people willing to trust His sufficiency.
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  Despite all of Whitefield's prayers to avoid the ministry, God's will
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  prevailed. Friends encouraged him, and God continued
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  to work in his heart, and finally he surrendered.
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  That surrender changed not only his life, but it
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  changed history. After his ordination,
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  Whitefield began preaching with unusual power.
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  Church buildings could no longer contain the crowds, so he took the
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  gospel outdoors. Fields became sanctuaries,
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  marketplaces became pulpits, hillsides became auditoriums.
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  Some criticized him for preaching in the open air, but he kept preaching.
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  Others mocked, but he kept preaching. Many rejected
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  him, he kept preaching.
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  And over the course of his ministry George Whitefield preached an estimated
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  18,000 sermons. He often spoke 40
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  hours each week. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean 7
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  different times when such voyages were dangerous and exhausting.
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  In Scotland, one gathering is estimated to have exceeded 100,000
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  listeners, all without microphones or amplifiers.
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  God used him as one of the central voices of what
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  became known as the Great Awakening. Bringing thousands to
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  faith in Christ across England and America.
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  Yet perhaps the greatest victory in Whitefield's life didn't happen before
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  a crowd. It happened in private.
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  It happened the moment that he finally said yes to
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  God's will. Late in life,
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  Whitefield reflected on the work God had done in his own heart,
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  and he wrote this: One taste of Christ's love
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  in the heart will make amends for all. What a beautiful testimony.
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  He had learned that surrender always costs something,
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  but it never costs more than Christ is able to
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  repay. In fact, the deeper God humbles us, the more fully he
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  prepares us to be used for his glory.
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  Friend, perhaps the Lord is doing that very work in your life
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  today. Maybe your wilderness feels longer
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  than you expected. Maybe your fears seem stronger than your
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  faith. Maybe you're waiting for confidence before you obey.
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  But confidence has never been God's requirement.
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  Faith has. Philippians 2:13 reminds us,
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  for it is God which worketh in you both to will
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  and to do of his good pleasure. Now think on
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  that carefully. God doesn't merely give you something to do.
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  He works in you to will and to do his good
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  pleasure. The God who calls you is also the God who equips
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  you. The God who leads you is the God who strengthens you. And the God
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  who sends you never abandons you.
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  George Whitefield's favorite verses were John 3 and John 3:7:
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  You must be born again. That was the heartbeat of his ministry.
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  More than crowds, more than reputation, more than influence,
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  he wanted people to know Christ. And even on his
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  final journey to America, though physically exhausted,
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  he continued preaching until the very end.
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  After delivering one last message from the balcony of a church
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  parsonage in Newburyport, Massachusetts, he went to bed and
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  entered the presence of the Savior he had spent a lifetime proclaiming.
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  His race was finished. His faith had become sight.
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  And the Lord Jesus, just as Whitefield often said, had indeed gotten
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  himself the victory. Perhaps that's the
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  lesson we should carry with us today. God rarely chooses
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  the people who think they are ready. He delights in using
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  those who know they are not but trust him anyway.
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  So whatever God is asking of you today,
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  don't allow fear to have the final word. Lay your plans
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  before him. Trust his wisdom. Above your own.
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  Take the next step of obedience.
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  Because the God who called George Whitefield is the same
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  God who still calls His people today. And He has never
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  failed a single one who trusted Him.
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  Thank you for joining me today for Traveler's Tales. I want you to
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  remember that every journey through Christian history reminds us that
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  God delights in using ordinary people who simply
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  yield themselves to him. If you'd like to continue growing
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  in your walk with Christ and become more effective in sharing the gospel
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  with others, I invite you to visit our website, etj.bible.
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  You'll find Bible studies, discipleship resources,
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  gospel tools and tracts, practical encouragement that's
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  been designed to help you to know God's word more deeply and to make Christ
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  known more faithfully. Until next time, keep enjoying the journey.
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  And keep following the one who is always leading his children
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  on the best path.