When you teach children in church, it’s necessary to digest the Bible passage into small tiny pieces so you can have the details entrenched in your heart. How familiar the story of Noah is to most of us. We think of the animals that came 2 by 2, the arc being built, and the rain that fell for forty days, and the rainbow in the sky, but I’m telling you, that the Lord has allowed me to see some things in this known story as I been studying it to teach to my Sunday school class. They are precious truths that I needed to learn!
This week my Sunday school class will learn about God shutting the door on the arc and then the rains coming. As I studied the passage, I read in Genesis 7:10 “And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.” Think about it – all the animals were in the arc. Noah and his family were safe in the arc, and not one other person would heed Noah’s warnings that God was going to send a flood. Now the door is shut, and as I pictured the event I could see the whole Noah family looking upward to the windows of the arc. Was it raining yet? No. Perhaps they even had a hard time looking upward because the sunshine was beaming into their eyes! The next day, perhaps they thought this was the day the flood would begin and God’s promise would be fulfilled. No. The next day the sun continued to shine. Day four, day five, and day six all passed with no rain. Were they wondering when this would happen? I wonder if there marks on the wall of the arc for every day they waited for the rain? Noah’s family was flesh, and I think they had to be wondering when this was going to happen.
Finally, on day seven – drip, tap, splash…the water began to come from the sky. The clouds caused a darkness to fall over the arc, then the darkness was divided by a flash of lightening piercing through the sky. They would write in their journals, “Today, on day seven the floods began. God has kept His promise to send judgment.”
How often I am looking for a promise of God to be fulfilled in my life…in my timetable. I sit in my arc waiting for that promise to rain down, and I begin to question – “Am I misapplying this promise? Is God going to do this now?” But there are no “rain clouds in sight” and I grow impatient.
The Lord reminded me through Noah and his family, however, that He will keep His promise. It will rain, and it will be the perfect time. His promise is sure and He cannot go back on it. So, today, I choose, whether I “hear the flood waters” coming or it’s still clear skies, to rest safely in my arc (the Lord Jesus).
Whatever you’re praying for, it may not be answered until “day seven,” but you can rest assured that God is in the heavens and he will do whatsoever He will please. Psalm 115:3 It will be the perfect time, and He will be glorified in it. Just as He was seen in the flood, it will be evident that His hand has moved in your situation too! Continue to trust Him.
Safe in the arc,
RefreshHer 