By Peter Kennedy
“They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” – Genesis 41:35-36
As the tense early days of World War one passed in the early autumn of 1914, food supplies dwindled ominously in Belgium. To the outside world went emissaries pleading for the Allies to permit food to filter through the naval noose. Finally, on October 22, after weeks of negotiations, American businessman Herbert Hoover established under diplomatic protection a neutral organization to procure and distribute food to the Belgian populace. Living in London when World War I broke out, he was asked by the U.S. consul there to organize the safe evacuation of 120,000 Americans stranded in Europe.
The American ambassador to Britain next asked the 40-year-old Hoover to organize relief for the 7 million people of Belgium, a country overrun and occupied by the German army and cut off from food imports by a British naval blockade. Three million French citizens were in the same plight.
Within days, Hoover enlisted the help of other wealthy businessmen, secured government and charitable support, and began building a team that could address the challenge. Soon 20,000 tons of wheat were on their way to Belgium, via canal from Holland. Hoover negotiated safe passage for cargo ships, and subsequent shipments delivered millions of tons of food to war-ravaged countries. Hoover’s lean organization dispensed $12 million a month in supplies for the war’s duration.
The Lord wants us to wisely administer the resources He gives us. One good habit of stewardship is developing the habit of saving. Today in prayer, ask the Lord how you can better develop the habit of saving and being a good steward of all He has given you.
“If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master.” – Francis Bacon
God’s Word: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” – Proverbs 6:6-8
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