“Multiply and replenish the earth” in Genesis 1:28 was spoken at the very beginning. Before mistakes. Or before fear. And before proof. God didn’t wait to see how things turned out before calling it good. It was good from the first day of the creation.
That matters. Multiply and Replenish the Earth Was Never About Playing Small.
Somewhere along the way, many LDS moms learned to interpret “multiply” as something narrow. Reproduction and having children but it is so much more. Multiply and replenish the earth means growth. Expansion. Increase. It means taking what you’ve been given and letting it become more than it was.
And that takes risk.
It Was Good From the Beginning
Creation didn’t happen in one day, but it was called good from the start.
God didn’t say, “Let’s wait and see if this works.”
He recognized the goodness before the outcome was visible.
That tells us something powerful. Growth does not require perfection to begin. It requires movement. Faith. Action.
Many women I work with feel stuck because they think they have to finish becoming before they start expanding.
Multiply Means to Increase
Reproduction repeats. Multiplication increases.
It takes what exists and makes it bigger, wider, more impactful.
This is where talents come in.
You were not given gifts just to admire them, you were given gifts to grow them. Skills. Wisdom. Experience. Insight. Even the hard-earned lessons from choices that didn’t go the way you planned.
Multiply your talents means you let what’s in your hands reach more people than you ever could alone.
God Who Sees More Than We Do
I heard this from Myron Golden:
“We can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.”
Sit with that for a second.
You can see what you have right now. Time. energy. confidence. experience. But you cannot see what God can grow from it.
An apple tree doesn’t exist to produce one apple. It exists to produce seeds that produce trees that produce fruit long after the original seed is gone.
That’s multiplication. He can see in us what we can’t see in ourselves.
Risk Is Not a Detour From Obedience
On the podcast Don’t Miss This, this idea came up recently. Multiply and replenish wasn’t a soft suggestion. It was a command. To BECOME, more than we are, to grow in love. There is something about life and mortality that is going to help us become.
When we are given a commandment it implies action.
Not safety.
Or certainty.
But action.
Faith has always required movement before evidence. Noah built before rain. Peter stepped out before water held him. Seeds get buried before trees appear.
Risk is not rebellion, it is often obedience.
What This Means for LDS Moms Right Now
If you feel a nudge to:
share your voice
start something small
speak up instead of staying quiet
use your story instead of hiding it
That isn’t random. That’s multiplication asking to happen.
God doesn’t ask you to control the harvest. He asks you to plant. God gave us individual purpose, why we are here. He knows who we are meant to be. We are going to suffer and sacrifice while we are here. He’s going to ask us to do things that will help us BECOME who we are meant and capable of being.
Our Savior came to sacrifice and suffer on a level we can’t comprehend but we get a tiny glimpse of what He came to do when we work to grow and multiply ourselves.
Start Where You Are
You don’t need all the answers or permission.
Or even know how.
You don’t need to see the whole orchard, you need to plant the seed you already have.
Because God never asked you to count the apples. He asked you to trust Him with the seed. He knows how many apples are in that seed because He knows us, our abilities and our worth.
Ready for Your Next Step?
If this stirred something in you, don’t ignore it.
Grab one of my free resources designed to help LDS moms get clear, and confident about what God is actually asking of them right now.
Schedule a Free Clarity Call with me if you feel stuck between faith and fear and need help sorting out what to do next without pressure.
You don’t need to rush.
But you do need to move.
Multiply was never meant to stay small or safe it was meant to help you become. BECOME more than you can even imagine.