America's Providential History Podcast explores the hand of God in America's history
>> Stephen McDowell: Welcome to America's Providential History Podcast, where we talk about the real story of America and explore the hand of God in our history. Now, here's your host, Stephen McDowell. Hello. Glad you're joining us for this edition of America's Providential History Podcast. Today, we're going to be looking at one aspect of the good fruit that came forth in the American republic, during its first century and beyond. You know, in past podcasts, we've looked at how it's the Christian faith that gave birth to the United States of America, that seeds of liberty that were planted over generations after we became a nation began to grow and flourish and produce good fruit. We also mentioned that some contrary seeds began to be planted, too, and they gradually began to produce, fruit that was not so good. We'll look at that more in future podcasts. But today I want to examine in particular the life of one man, George Washington Carver. Now, as we've said, the seeds of liberty planted in the United States of America began to produce good fruit. In fact, some of these seeds began to influence other nations as well. Remember the vision that John Winthrop presented for America early on, that we're a city upon a hill, set upon a hill, that all the world would look at them and say, make us like that of New England. That was their desire. And so after America was birthed as a free nation, other nations began to recognize and begin to embrace some of those, seeds as well. So liberty began to advance in Europe in the 19th century with the ending of serfdom and other things like this. But we'll see in the United States, great fruit began to come forth. Technological advancements continued. We looked at some of those in past podcasts with, many new inventions and discoveries and advancements in every sphere of life, government, governmental sphere, and the economic sphere and invention ideas of education. But certainly we see great economic advancement, and we'll look at other examples in the future. But, to.
George Washington Carver transformed the economy of the South through agriculture
But today I want to explore this Christian man, George Washington Carver, because he applied the truth and transformed the economy of the South. Now, George Washington Carver had much to overcome in his life. He was born into slavery just before the close of the Civil War. His mom was a slave, but after emancipation, she stayed with the family in Missouri who had owned her and George, but early on, after this, some Georgia and his mom were carried off from the Carver farm by raiders when he was just a baby. So Moss Carver, the owner of the farm, offered 40 acres and a horse. He didn't have any cash to offer to any man who would find the mom and child and bring them back. Well, someone did find George the baby, but was unable to find the mother. So George then grew up on the Carver farm, but in relative poverty. Now, as a child, George loved the woods and plants and things related to botany. He was very observant of nature, and he was always asking questions. He also enjoyed using his hands. At about the age of 10, he decided, Hey, I want to go get an education. So he. He said, thank you, Mr. Carver, for taking care of me, but I've got to go. So he said goodbye. He left the farm and he went to, go to school in a nearby, town. Now, he first had no place to live at all. I had to sleep under the steps. But he started to work, and any little odd job that he could do, he did. And he worked hard, and he saved money as he went through high school because he then wanted to go to college, but, because he wanted to study agriculture. That was his first love, agriculture. But he was not allowed. Wasn't into the college where he wanted to go, but a couple helped him go to an artist school. Said, if that's the only school I can go to, I will go. But he became actually fairly proficient artist, but he couldn't find a job as an artist. But he eventually was able to study his first law of agriculture. Well, after obtaining his university degree, Carver was invited by Booker T. Washington to come and teach at a new college, a new school that Booker T. Washington was starting in Alabama, called Tuskegee Institutes. And it was Carver's work here at Tuskegee Institute that transformed the economy of the south and affected many other nations as well. Now, Carver would rise every morning at 4am read the Bible and seek God concerning what he wanted him to do. Toward the end of his life, he was asked, or toward the end of his life, Carver remarked. He was asked about the secret of his success. And he said, 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.
Carver sought God concerning how to improve the economy of the South
Now, there was one thing in particular that he sought God concerning, and that was how to improve the economy of the southeastern part of the United States. You see, continual planting of cotton had depleted the soil. Nothing else would. Nothing would grow very well in there. And, the invasion of the boll weevil was destroying much of what cotton crop would grow there. One of his biographers wrote. He devotedly believed that a personal relationship with the Creator, of all things was the only foundation for the abundant life. And he had a little story in which he related his experience. And this experience had to do with seeking God. What's my purpose? Why am I here? He believed he wanted to improve the economy, of the South. And so when he saw that cotton was not growing here, nothing else was growing here, he looked around and began to want to find out, you know, what was it that could grow and what agricultural products. What can I do to help encourage agricultural growth? What things can grow here? And that's related to this story that he liked to tell. here's his story. I asked the great Creator what the universe was made for. Asked for something more in keeping with that little mind of yours. He replied, well, what was man made for? Little man, you still want to know too much. Cut down the extent of your request and, improve the intent. Then I told the Creator I wanted to know all about the peanut. He replied that my mind was too small to know all about the peanut. But he said he would give me a handful of peanuts. And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth. To you it shall be for meat. I have given every green herb for meat. And it was so I carried the peanuts into my laboratory. Carver would go on to relate. And the Creator told me to take them apart and resolve them into their elements. With such knowledge as I had of chemistry and physics, I set to work to take them apart. I separated the water, the fats, the oils, the gums, the resins, sugars, starches, pectoses, pentosins, amino acids. There I had the parts of the peanuts all spread out before me. Now, let me pause, in, this story just a minute while I make an observation. See, this story of Carver's teaches us the importance of preparation and fulfilling God's plan for our lives. Carver labored hard to develop his skills in chemistry and in physics. See, today, if I went to the Lord and asked him, what did you make the peanut for? And he told me, take them apart and see what's in them. I would have a difficult time doing that because I don't have the skills in chemistry, necessary. But Carver had worked hard and labored hard and studied and developed those skills. Consequently, God could answer the question Carver posed to him, unlike many of us today. So I would need a lot more preparation before I would be in a position to understand and act upon the answer, you know, and this is true in many areas of our lives. Many times we'll go to ask God well, why is this and what can, what am I to do here? Sometimes God's not able to answer many of our inquiries or lead us deeper into our providential purpose, for we've not learned enough or been properly prepared to hear and understand what he may say. So this is an important lesson that we need to learn. That providential preparation, which requires a lot of work and a lot of labor. Carver had prepared himself and was able then to do what God told him to do. Well, to continue with the story Carver relates, I looked at him and he looked at me. Speaking of the Lord, he looked at the Lord, he looked at me and the Lord told him, now you know what the peanut is. Well, why did you make the peanut? The Creator said, I've given you three laws, namely compatibility, temperature and pressure. All you have to do is take these constituents and put them together, observing these laws, and I will show you why I made the peanut. I therefore went on to try different combinations of the parts under different conditions of temperature and pressure. And the result was what you see. Well, what were the results of what Carver had done? Well, carver discovered over 300 different uses for the peanut. Now, you have to realize, see, peanuts really weren't used for anything. Nobody even really ate them at that time, except poor people, they call them eating goober peas. They couldn't get anything else. They might eat these peanuts. But Carver, as he took apart the plant, every aspect of the plant, observe what it was, and put the constituent parts back together in different ways. He discovered over 300 uses for the peanut. Now, certainly there were food items including nuts and soup, a dozen beverages, mixed pickles, sauces, meal, instant and dry coffee, but many other, uses as well. Created a salve and bleach and tan remover, wood filler, washing powder, metal polish, paper, ink, plastics, shaving cream, rubbing oil, linoleum shampoo, axle grease, synthetic rubber, just to name a few of these 300 uses. He also produced milk which would not curdle in cooking or, when acids were added. Long lasting cream and cheese could be made from this milk. And as one gentleman wrote, this milk proved to be truly a lifesaver in the Belgian Congo. Cows could not be kept there because of leopards and flies. So if a mother died, her baby was buried with her. There was nothing to nourish it. Missionaries fed the infants peanut milk and they flourished. And so the product of the peanut discovery of Carver impacted many, many people all over the world. But George worked with many other plants and items as well. In fact, he made 107 products from sweet potatoes, making synthetic marble from sawdust, and making wallboard for many different southern plants. See, what he was doing is saying, what is it here in this, in the Southeast, based upon the soil and the climate, what can grow and what flourishes here? And then he began to look at many of these things in a different way and discover things that God had hidden in, in those plants for thousands of years. Because he told us, take your mental capabilities, your physical capabilities, discover what I have hidden in there. Rearrange these things. You know, God created all things in the very beginning. He spoke, and it was created. But we, and of course, we as his people, are the highest creation. So we are like God. We are creating his image, and we have the capacity to create. We don't create out of nothing like God did. He spoke and created from nothing. But we are to take God's original creation and use our mental and muscular energy to rearrange God's original creation and create new things. So we are to be creative, just like God. George Washington Carver was fulfilling the mission that God gave to man from the very beginning. To take dominion over the earth, to cultivate the earth, to be fruitful, to be creative, to take the original creation, make new things, in order to be a blessing to our fellow man, to be useful. And Carver certainly was useful to the farmer. He helped elevate him out of poverty, giving him new ideas of how to be more efficient in crops that he could grow and the product of those crops. Well, from his work, Carver received many awards and became the advisor to many world leaders, including President Franklin Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, and Thomas Edison. And in all his work, he never failed to acknowledge God. In 1921, when he testified before a committee of Congress, he was asked BY the chairman, Dr. Carver, how did you learn all these things?
George Washington Carver worked for the riches of God rather than the wealth of this world
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 see. Carver looked for divine direction and saw God as the revealer of truth. Carver said, I discover nothing in my laboratory. If I come here of myself, I am lost. But I can do all things through Christ. I am God's servant, his agent. For here God and I are alone. I am just the instrument through which he speaks. And I would be able to do more if I were to stay in closer touch with him, with my prayers. I mix my labors and sometimes God is pleased to bless the results. See, George Washington Carver knew his purpose in life. He said, my purpose alone must be God's purpose to increase the welfare and happiness of his people. See, that was his primary motivation. It wasn't money, it wasn't fame. In fact, a lot of the checks that he was paid as a professor, he stuffed away in a drawer and wouldn't cash them for months and months and months. And the accountant would have to come and say, hey, you know, I need to rectify my accounts here. You need to cash your checks. It wasn't money that motivated him. He's motivated really by what God created and told man to do from the very beginning. He wanted man to take, to create needy goods and services, offer that to his fellow man in order to be a blessing, to elevate man, to provide things that would meet his needs and, and to bring flourishing to success, to society, to mankind. My purpose alone must be God's purpose to increase the welfare and happiness of his people for the betterment of mankind. That's the mission that all of us have today. To discover our calling to to whatever God has called us to do in whatever field of life, to do it in an excellent way, to provide a needed good or service to mankind. And all of us working together will help elevate, inch forward mankind, bring more liberty, more flourishing to mankind, you know? Edison offered, George Washington Carver a job with a six figure income that was a fortune in those days. But he turned it down so he could continue his agricultural work in his laboratory, which he called God's little workshop. He could go and work in God's little workshop every day, discovering new things, finding out that which the Creator had hidden within his creation in order to utilize it and use it and let the fellow man use it. So George Washington Carver worked for the riches of God rather than the wealth of this world. Carver helped transform the economy of the south and he affected agriculture all over the world. Carver had to overcome all kinds of obstacles to fulfill his destiny. Certainly the obstacle of being born in slavery, to living in poverty, to, to finding, to really finding an education for himself, to laboring, working hard, overcome prejudices that existed, many, many things. He had to, obstacles he had to overcome, as we all do in different ways as we walk down the road that God has for us. And in all of those things, he persevered, he labored hard, he pursued the desires in his heart. He had a great impact upon many people and upon agriculture and the economy, at Large as he fulfilled the calling that God had for him. Just like George Washington Carver, you can do great things for God. You know, some people say, well, God can never use me because, you know, I don't have a lot of money, I don't have a lot of education, I don't know many important people. But Carver had more to overcome than any of us. Born in slavery, in great poverty, but he persevered, he overcame, and he fulfilled his destiny. Whatever God has called you to do, small or great, you, need to persevere, labor hard, follow the example of George Washington Carver to do your work with excellence. See, Carver can inspire you to not limit what God can do through you, regardless of your situation in life. So each one of us need to find out the plan that God has for us. Develop the talents and skills and abilities that God has given us. Just like the parable of the talents, the parable of the minas in the Bible, Bible that Jesus taught to occupy until he comes, do business with this, till he comes, use all of the talents, skills and abilities that God has given us to multiply them, to increase, those in order to be a honor to our master, honor to the king, and to be a blessing and a benefit to mankind. So George Washington Carver is one of many examples of individuals who came forth in America during the 19th century, in early 20th century. He was a product of Christian faith and Christian seeds of liberty that had been planted in the many, many generations before this. And he brought great blessing to mankind. Now, there are many other stories like this. In future podcasts, we'll be looking at some more of the positive stories, the positive seeds that came forth, within the American Republic. And in future podcasts, we will also though, take a look at the contrary seeds that began to be planted, especially in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and how those seeds began to produce bad fruit and still produce, bad fruit today. But the good news is, as we see in the United States, is that God's good seed, planted in good soil, produced millions of pieces of fruit, abundant fruit, and that fruit brings blessing to many people. Well, if you want to read about George Washington Carver and many other people like him, I would invite you to look at one of the books we have is Transforming nations through Biblical Work. In that I've written of scores of different individuals who God has used to bring advancement in every sphere of life. George Washington Carver is one of many stories that I tell in this book, and you can get a copy of that from our website, providencefoundation.com and look at our stories, and order and order that. So I'd invite you to do that. And we have many other stories and articles, videos on our website as well. Providencefoundation.com well, thanks for joining us, this week and I hope you can join us for the next Providence America's Providential history podcast. God bless you.
