The past two days I have been pondering about what I can learn from Noah, or what God would like me to gain in the scriptures of Noah and the flood. I have read, reread and just pondered (Genesis 6:9 - Genesis 9:17). I have some thoughts, nothing profound, some things rehashed ... but the things I've been pondering.
1. Genesis 6: 8-9 Because Noah was righteous, found favor with God and was blameless among the people, he was given protection and frankly, his life. This isn't a huge insight. I believe we all have this. We all have the opportunity each day to be made righteous, and find favor with God. He desires to protect us and give us life that He created in us.
2. Genesis 6:22, 7:5 I watched Evan Almighty the other day, because this Bible story was so fresh on my mind. I had a little chuckle. It isn't accurate at all, but defiantly entertaining. However, it gave me a fresh perspective on how the people had to have been ridiculing Noah. What he was building wasn't something that could be hidden, but something big that had to be seen from his surrounding neighbors and even towns. People had to wonder, had to have questioned and had to have laughed at him. But Noah continued on.
There have been countless times that I believe God has laid something on my heart, or I heard his voice giving me direction or have seen something that could only come from Him. And within minutes after, I'm questioning if I heard it right. It doesn't say that Noah questioned, it says that he was righteous and had favor with God, blameless with the people. Because God said it, he didn't question but just did as he was told, whether he was the laughing stock of the town or not. I could think of a recent event, where God laid something on my heart to do, and in doing so it made me stop what I was doing and pause to meet the deadline I was up against, it also caused a little extra from my pocketbook, and it caused me to stop and be kind to a complete stranger. All three I was having difficulty with, but mostly I was complaining that God would make me stop and do. I wish I approached that incident differently, and I wish my heart was like Noah ... obedient. Obedience brings favor.
3. Genesis 7:16b I hadn't really noticed before. But Noah didn't have to figure out how to shut the door, or when to shut it. God saw that Noah did all that He had asked and closed the door for him. God sealed his promise of protection to Noah. God put a physical divider between the outside world and it's taunts and questions of doubt from His promise, favor and protection. Noah stood on the right side of the door!
4. I can't help but be jealous of the worship Noah had to have had on that ark! We each are different. We all experience the worship of God in our unique ways. Nature is one of those ways. My husband likes to hike, and I have joined in and have experienced God that way. I have spent times at the beach encountering the love of God there. But many times I simply go to the zoo. To see all the different animals, and see the creativity our God has, it amazes me every time. Noah had much time to be in the creativity of God.
5. Genesis 8:1, 9:15 I often wonder what God thought of all the rest of the people. I thought he was focused on Noah and those on the ark. But it says "But God remembered". I can't help but get a picture of God drifting his mind off to the store keeper down the street, the family across the bay and even the animals asleep in the trees. I get this overwhelming sense that this act wasn't easy for God, but something He had to do: almost like an artist not pleased with his painting and washing it clean to start over. That is what God was doing, and I can't help but sense God was saddened of destroying the work He put into it the first time around. Because scripture used the word "remembered", it was like God directed His mind to the current place and that was with Noah. And it was used again later when God sees the rainbow. We've always viewed it as our remembrance of the time of Noah and God's promise ... but I see today it was His remembrance too. His remembrance tells me of the heart of God, he was grieving, and will remember the past in the midst of creating the future.
I love God's heart! The more we read, the more we find of the God we serve.
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