He would be called the greatest evangelist of the 19th century. Presidents would honor him. A ship would even be named after him. But as a boy, no one of his family, friends or acquaintances would have predicted a life that was accorded these honors. In fact, there was nothing in his young life that could have revealed the impact he would have on the world. Unless it was the struggles he would endure in those first years of life.
Born February 5th, 1837, in Northfield, Massachusetts, Dwight was the 6th of 9 nine children. His father passed away when he was four and his pregnant mother would deliver twins a month later.
With the family heavily in debt, “creditors came and took everything, including the firewood and kindling”1. Refusing to break up the family, Dwight’s mother told the kids to stay in bed until they went to school, so they could try to stay warm. An uncle cut and split more firewood for the family. A young Dwight would remember it as the “biggest pile of wood he had ever seen”2.
Every Penny Counted
Days after giving birth to her twins, the landlord would berate and curse Dwight’s mother for not having the mortgage payment ready. With her husband’s recent death, she had not the money for it. Although family members came to her aid and paid the mortgage for the year, she would “cry herself to sleep at night”3.
In Dwight’s family, every penny counted and that is just what little Dwight earned. Having to work before he was 10 years old, Dwight earned one cent a week tending cows. At 10 years old, he walked 13 miles with his older brother to another town to work. Dwight felt as if he had “walked around the world”4. Supporting the family was a habit he kept into adulthood, regularly sending money home.
Dwight did go to school but paid little attention. As a result, he was barely literate and spelled words the way they sounded. His atrocious spelling endured for more than half his life.
Although Dwight was baptized at the same time as his siblings, he had little desire to pursue a faith in Christ. He preferred instead to cause trouble and have fun at other people’s expense.
Nothing is Wasted
Is it ironic that God uses the circumstances of one life to reach others? Nothing is wasted when God works.
After accepting the truth of a living and loving God, Dwight’s ministry began with the children on the streets of Chicago. Precisely because of the circumstances of his own childhood, Dwight was able to speak with the children of Chicago’s streets. Those children in turn, found someone they could trust. Dwight understood them.
Beginning a Sunday school in an abandoned saloon, Dwight’s kids grew to 1500 strong. The work among these children was becoming known. President-elect, Abraham Lincoln, even visited the school.
Dwight worked hard at serving. He spent long hours every day doing what he thought God wanted. It wasn’t until the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 that Dwight stopped working in his own power.
After the fire, Dwight and his family were destitute. Their home and belongings were gone. They barely escaped with the clothes on their back and what little they could carry.
His Inner Man Was Suffering
For months, Dwight was lost. While he helped where he could, he had no strength in him for ministry. He went about his business but it was the ordeal his inner man was suffering that consumed him. It was during this time that the Lord showed Dwight about himself. He realized that he had been serving himself and not Jesus Christ. Upon the realization that his heart had been in the wrong place, Dwight’s true anointing began.
Dwight Lyman Moody, also known as, D.L. Moody, would go on to become a famed evangelist and leave a legacy that continues today. He applied himself to be a servant of men, but instead became a servant of God.
You May Be the Bolt of Lightening
We could speak more of Dwight, but what about you? While your own life may not resemble what Dwight endured, you have a story all your own. You may think the circumstances of your life aren’t useful for anything, but God is the Master Artist. He will take what you have and do miracles in others that you never thought possible.
You may be the bolt of lightning that Jesus Christ uses to illuminate the darkness or penetrate another’s soul. But as Dwight learned, it is God’s power, light, direction and penetration that so masterfully changes the lives around you.
I would like to leave you with three verses that sum up what Dwight learned.
- “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6 NIV.
- As the apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV.
- Jesus said it best. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NKJV.
Are you happy? Are you living a fulfilled life? Do you feel like you make a difference? Or are you filled with regret at squandering so much of the life God has given? Turn to Jesus Christ in prayer. There is still time. Even the ministry of Jesus Christ was only 3 years long and look what came of it; eternal life for all who believe in Him and what He did.
References
- Kevin Belmonte “D.L. Moody, A Life”, pg. 21.
- Ibid., 21-22.
- Ibid., 22.
- Ibid., 26.
- Ibid.
