"He will bless those who fear the Lord- small and great alike." Psalm 115:13
What will be written on your epitaph? How do you want people to remember you?
What type of legacy will your life leave behind? I interviewed a very successful
and powerful man one time for a magazine when this question came up. The man ran
an international business that is a household name to all. He was a professed
Christian, but he had difficulty answering my question. "I always knew someone
would ask that question some day. I am not sure I am any more prepared to answer
it now either," was the man's answer. He grappled for a few nice words, but it
was clear he had not seriously considered his life much beyond his business
success.
It is said of George Washington Carver that he got up early in the morning each
day to walk alone and pray. He asked God how he was to spend his day and what He
wanted to teach him that day. Carver grew up at the close of the Civil War in a
one-room shanty on the home of Moses Carver-the man who owned his mother. The Ku
Klux Klan had abducted him and his mother, selling her to new owners. He was
later found and returned to his owner, but his mother was never seen again.
Carver grew up at the height of racial discrimination, yet he had overcome all
these obstacles to become one of the most influential men in the history of the
United States. He made many discoveries with the use of peanuts and sweet
potatoes. However, after he recommended farmers to plant peanuts and sweet
potatoes instead of cotton, he was led into his greatest trial. The farmers lost
even more money due to the lack of market for peanuts and sweet potatoes. Carver
cried out to the Lord, "Mr. Creator, why did You make the peanut?"
Many years later, he shared that God led him back to his lab and worked with him
to discover some 300 marketable products from the peanut. Likewise, he made over
100 discoveries from the sweet potato. These new products created a demand for
peanuts and sweet potatoes, and they were major contributors to rejuvenating the
Southern economy. As he made new discoveries, he never became successful
monetarily, but he overcame great rejection during his lifetime for being black.
He was offered six-figure income opportunities from Henry Ford, and he became
friends with presidents of his day, yet he knew what God had called him to do.
His epitaph read:
He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness
and honor in being helpful to the world. [John Woodbridge, More Than Conquerors
(Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1992), 312.]
Excerpted with permission from the book TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman,
copyright 2000, Destiny Image Publishers, Reprinted by permission. For free
daily email subscription to TGIF Today God Is First marketplace meditations,
visit www.marketplaceleaders.org
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