On today's Footsteps, Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago tells a story that points to the humility of D.L. Moody.  When an admirer asked to shake hands with "the famous D.L. Moody, Moody reached down, filled his hand with dirt, and said to the man, 'this is D.L. Moody--the dirt that is in my hand except for God's grace and God's mercy upon my life.'" 

There is a very small book titled Why God Used D.L. Moody written by R.A. Torrey who was Moody's right-hand man.  It can easily be found online.  In this little book, Torrey remembers that "Moody would get down on his face before God, knowing he was human, and ask God to empty him of all self-sufficiency.  And God did."  Torrey goes on to warn the rest of us, "Oh, men and women! especially young men and young women, perhaps God is beginning to use you ... Listen: get down upon your face before God.  I believe here lies one of the most dangerous snares of the Devil.  When the Devil cannot discourage a man, he approaches him on another tack, which he knows is far worse in its results; he puffs him up ... The entire shore of the history of Christian workers is strewn with the wrecks of gallant vessels that were full of promise a few years ago, but these men became puffed up and were driven on the rocks by the wild winds of their own raging self-esteem."(1)

Click here to listen to Footsteps' Latest Program

Click here to visit Footsteps

(Photo of Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago)

1.  R.A. Torrey, Why God Used D.L. Moody, 1923, online at Wholesome Words, accessed January 6, 2017, https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biomoody6.html.