On a recent post, I shared how God wants to teach me to meet Him in the stillness and quiet…how I believe this is going to be the answer to my prayer that He order my days…how this alone will prevent me from getting lost by moving forward.
God gave me confirmation of this the other day, and the story is so beautiful and encouraging and powerful that I want to share that encouragement with you all as well.
Most of us learned about George Washington Carver in history class. We know that he was a slave who ended up inventing hundreds of uses for the peanut and singlehandedly impacted the agriculture and economy of the south. He was so brilliant that Thomas Edison begged him to come work with him, offering him the astronomical sum of $100,000 a year–an offer he refused.
What most of our history books probably didn’t tell us, however, is that he was a Christian who gave God all the glory for his discoveries and inventions.
The other day I was reading on Billye Brim’s website, and she shared some amazing quotes from a book about him. I want to share those as well…I think you’ll see how they exemplify what God is calling me to do.
The excerpt is from The Man Who Talks With Flowers, by Glenn Clark:
“Here is what I call ‘God’s Little Workshop’,” said Dr. Carver… [His laboratory.] “No books are ever brought in here, [except the Bible].…Here I talk to the little peanut and it reveals its secrets to me. I lean upon the 29th verse of the first chapter of Genesis.…What other materials do we need than that promise?” (p17.)
“There is literally nothing that I ever wanted to do…that I asked the blessed Creator to help me to do, that I have not been able to accomplish.…It’s all very simple, if one knows how to talk with the Creator. It is simply seeking the Lord and finding Him…He said in the Proverbs, ‘Those that seek me early shall find me.’ So I just follow His advice and find Him.…All my life I have risen regularly at four o’clock and have gone into the woods and talked with God. There He gives me my orders for the day…I listen to what God has to say to me. After my morning’s talk with God I go into my laboratory and begin to carry out His wishes for the day.” (pp 21, 22.)
“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.’
“Then I asked, ‘Dear Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for.’ Again the great Creator replied, ‘Little man, you still are asking too much. Cut down the extent of your request and improve the intent.’
“So then I asked, ‘Please, Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?’
“’That’s better, but even then it’s infinite. What do you want to know about the peanut?’”
…”And then the Great Creator taught me how to take the peanut apart and put it together again. And out of this process have come forth all these products.” For over an hour Dr. Carver drew forth from his homemade box of samples a continuing procession of face powder, printer’s ink, butter, shampoo, creosote, dyes, etc….(p 34.)
I am reminded of the parable of the talents that Jesus told. Here is a man who was, indeed, faithful with what he had been given. Very faithful!
But perhaps the most encouraging part of his story is that there was nothing special about him. He wasn’t brilliant, with an IQ off the charts and an education from Yale and Harvard. Rather, his God was brilliant. His God is brilliant, and He is my God as well. George Washington Carver merely discovered what I am longing to learn to do… to take our orders for the day from God.
His story illustrates in such real way what God showed me about being His slave. Not only does it mean freedom, but it also means glory and hope for our lives.
Lord, I want to know this in a much deeper way! Teach me to meet You in the stillness…to hear Your voice so clearly that there is no hesitation…that I may be able to walk the path You have chosen for me and bring glory to You.
I finally got over here. 🙂 Great post! I heard Billye mention some of these same things the last time she was at our church, and it inspired me too. I think perhaps I should find that book (the man who talks with flowers) and read more about Dr. Carver. He led a very inspiring life.