Zechariah 4:10
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.
When the duPont family came to the USA from France after the French Revolution, they settled in Rhode Island and began in the agriculture industry, as they had always done in France. This was not to be their lot in life, however. They were not able to make the living they were accustomed to in France. So, when America was involved in the war of 1812 E.I. duPont had the opportunity to observe the gun powder that was being used. He exclaimed to the manufacturer that it was inferior compared to the chemical compound he had been taught in France in chemistry. He was willing and able to provide a better gunpowder for the soldiers. The rest, as they say, is history! And quite a history it is! He moved his family to Delaware because the black powder needed for the gun powder was readily available. There he built the ‘small’ home you see above, with gardens, the Powder yard, Worker’s Hill, and all the buildings and machinery that made the mill function on 235 acres of land.
The du Pont family was French Huguenot in faith. This is a form of Calvinist Protestantism. A Biblical worldview was their back-bone.
In the years after the gunpowder factory was forged, the perfecting of the process for making gunpowder, as well as the formula for making it made the duPont family millionaires. They are among the richest families in the United States since the mid 19th century. When the need for gun powder was no more, they expanded their chemical knowledge to include other business’ in chemicals and General Motors, as well as several other corporations. They were a busy and talented family, the girls tended the gardens and made beautiful artwork and the boys worked in the business. Their entrepreneurial spirits exceeded any doubts they may have had of success. In later years they moved to Winterthur Mansion and Gardens in Delaware. You may have heard of it? As of 2016 the family fortune was worth over $14 billion, spread over the 3,500 living relatives. It is still a lot of money!
I tell you this story just to remind you that God embraces small beginnings. When an idea, or plan comes into our imagination we need to toss it around, give it some thought and a lot of prayer. Certainly the Holy Spirit quickens us with ideas to support His purposes
I also must say that when they began in the agriculture industry and they could not make an adequate living, they did not give up and go home, they found something else that they could make more efficiently, and they pursued it until they were successful.
Is there an idea the Lord has inspired you with? Don’t let it die on the vine, twirl it around in your head until the next thought comes. You might just have the next great invention waiting to bless us all!
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