In All Thy Ways: George Washington Carver and Proverbs 3:6

A boy on a barn loft, a barrel of corn, and a first prayer. That is how George Washington Carver, the agricultural scientist, said his Christian life began.

Carver was born into slavery in Missouri in the early 1860s and, as a child, was not allowed to attend church or school in his neighbourhood. In 1931 he wrote that he was hardly ten when God "just came into my heart one afternoon" as he shelled corn alone in the barn loft. He had only heard of Sunday school from a neighbour's boy, so he knelt by the corn barrel and prayed as best he knew how.

That faith stayed with him. He went on to head the agriculture department at Tuskegee Institute for 47 years, urging poor farmers to rotate cotton with peanuts and sweet potatoes to restore tired soil. Wikipedia notes he testified many times that his faith in Jesus was what made his scientific work possible, and from 1906 he led a Sunday Bible class for students who asked for it.

Key verse (KJV), Proverbs 3:6: "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Prayer point: Lord, be Lord of my workplace, my studies and my business, not only my Sundays.

Over to you:
- Where in your daily work or studies have you seen God direct your path?
- Do you pray before you start a task, and what difference has it made for you?

Sources: Wikipedia, "George Washington Carver"
Photo: George Washington Carver, c. 1910, Wikimedia Commons (public domain)