Receiving Yahweh’s “Revelation-Secrets”
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6; KJV)
Perhaps no one has demonstrated the truth of these verses more than George Washington Carver (1864-1943). Born into slavery and poverty, Carver later became an agricultural chemist of international fame, and amazed the world with his accomplishments. He discovered hundreds of uses for the peanut, soybean, pecan and sweet potato. This revolutionized the economy of the South since these crops replenished the soil, which had become depleted through years of cotton growth.
Carver’s discoveries from the peanut (over 300), the sweet potato (over 118), as well as from the soybean, etc., included cosmetics, face powder, lotion, shaving cream, vinegar, cold cream, printer’s ink, salad oil, rubbing oil, instant coffee, leather stains from mahogany to blue, synthetic tapioca and egg yolk, flour, paints, non-toxic colors (from which crayons were eventually created).
George Washington Carver’s notoriety eventually became so great that he was visited at Tuskegee Institute by national and international leaders, such as Vice-President Calvin Coolidge, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He became a confidant and advisor to leaders and scientists from all over the world, ranging from Thomas Edison to Mahatma Gandhi. (Edison had also offered him a position with a six-figure income, but Carver turned it down).
The Secret of His Success
When asked how he accomplished his achievements, Carver stated words from our opening verses: “The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’”(Proverbs 3:6)
Carver again gave God the credit for his accomplishments when, in the summer of 1920, the Young Men’s Christian Association of Blue Ridge, North Carolina, invited him to speak at their summer school for the southern states. While there, Carver stated:
“Years ago I went into my laboratory and said, ‘Dear Mr. Creator, please tell me what the universe was made for?’
“The Great Creator answered, ‘You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask for something more your size, little man.’
“Then I asked. ‘Please, Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for?’
“Again the Great Creator replied, ‘You are still asking too much. Cut down on the extent and improve the intent.’
“So then I asked, ‘Please, Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?’
“…And then the Great Creator taught me to take the peanut apart and put it together again. And out of the process have come forth all these products!”
Before Congress
In 1921, George Washington Carver accepted the invitation to address the United States Senate Ways and Means Committee in Washington, D.C., concerning the potential uses of the peanut and other new crops to improve the economy of the South. Initially given only ten minutes to speak, he instantly enthralled the committee so much that the Chairman said, “Go ahead Brother. Your time is unlimited!”
Carver spoke for one hour and forty-five minutes. At the end of his address, the Chairman of the Committee asked: “Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?’
Carver answered: “From an old book.”
“What book?” asked the Senator.
Carver replied, “The Bible.”
The Senator inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?
“No, Sir” Dr. Carver replied, “But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.”
God’s Little Workshop
George Washington Carver named his laboratory God's Little Workshop and never took any scientific textbooks into it; he merely asked God how to perform his experiments.
Carver would lock the door behind him when he went into his laboratory, stating that: “Only alone can I draw close enough to God to discover His secrets."
God’s Co-Worker
When speaking at the Tuskegee Institute in 1928, Carver was asked to share some of his insights about God. Here are some excerpts:
“When I read in the Scriptures, ‘In Him we live and move and have our being,’ (Acts 17:28) I knew what the writer meant. Never since have I been without this consciousness of the Creator speaking to me...The out of doors has been to me more and more a great cathedral in which God could be continuously spoken to and heard from....
“Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be...God's co-worker....
“My purpose alone must be God’s purpose - to increase the welfare and happiness of His people…Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill...With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum and I became an agent. Then the passage, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,’ (Philippians 4:13) came to have real meaning.
“As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need forces were working through me which amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke the answer was there.
“Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory?”
We should all take a lesson from this humble man who learned to commune with his Creator and serve his fellow man. How different the world would be!
Pray with me:
Father, thank You for the life of George Washington Carver. He demonstrated to us the wisdom of a life fully dependent on You. Please help us walk in humility, acknowledging our insufficiency to live life without Your guidance. Yet, we can do all things through Christ’s strength and ability, as Dr Carver stated. You tell us in Psalm 25:14: “There’s a private place reserved for the devoted lovers of Yahweh, where they sit near Him and receive the revelation-secrets of his promises.” (TPT)
We want to do this.
When America’s Founders struggled to write our Constitution, they eventually acknowledged that their wisdom was inadequate; they needed Your help. They appealed to You, the God who gave them liberty, and You gave them wisdom and understanding. We pray that legislators in Washington today would come to this realization. Strip them of their pride. Remind them of the words of Ben Franklin at that Continental Congress, “‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it’ (Psalm 127:1)… that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building, no better than the builders of Babel.” We ask for leaders who know and believe this. Give our President and his cabinet, our legislators, and our judges this understanding. Remove those who refuse to acknowledge You. Restore our nation to You, we pray.
All of this we ask in the holy name of Jesus.
Our decree:
We will acknowledge God in all of our ways and He will direct our paths!
(Portions of today’s post was adapted from America’s God and Country, Encyclopedia of Quotations, by William Federer.)
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