So the passage is Genesis 8.
After all the incidents that have previously happened, I feel this this is a great turn around, a great reminder that at the end of the storm is God holding His arms wide open for us~
The first words of the passage are already very compelling in itself.
"But God remembered Noah"
My Bible has a sidenote that says the 'remember' here means the same as to 'pay attention' to. I personally think that this makes the words so much stronger.
Pay attention really implies that God never lost attention of Noah, that Noah had God's full concentration. Isn't that pretty amazing? To have God's full attention & therefore complete protection.
I really feel that here, God wasn't just 'keeping a covenant' with Noah by protecting him from the flood, but He was taking the extra mile because He really loved Noah~
So shortly afterwards, the waters began to recede, life on earth was given another chance.
By now, Noah had been in the ark for a very long time. I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable place to be, having been tossed around by the ocean for so long, having to live amongst animals, but he would finally be able to leave the ark soon!
So to give him an idea of the progress of waters receding, Noah sent out birds to check for him. After the third bird, Noah had proof that the earth had almost dry.
Not only that, he even decided to remove the covering and have a look with his own two eyes. It says in verse 13 "Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry." So why didn't he leave the ark? Why did he remain in the ark for more than an extra month? I'm sure he would've really wanted to leave, & finally be able to stand on solid ground. But he waited.
He waited for God's command. I really think it's really amazing how much He trusts God now. Even though he saw with his own eyes that the earth had dried, he still waited to God said it was safe. It took another month & more before the earth was completely dry, as it says in verse 14.
I'm sure alot of the times nowadays, we really rely on what we see to confirm it's true. We must see to make sure. And when we do see, we're so sure of ourselves. But here we can really learn from Noah, after so many confirmations of his own power, he still waited for God. And he was right to do so~
Then when he finally was able to step out of the ark, the first thing he did was thank God, by building an altar to Him. As it says in verse 20 "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD".
Would we have done the same after having to experience such poor living conditions for so long? Would we have only been so relieved & forgotten about God?
Well Noah definitely didn't, he thought of God first, He remembered & was extremely thankful for God's plan for his life, even though alot of it was extremely difficult & painful.
God then blesses Noah.
One phrase really stood out to me here.
In verse 22,
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,"
Seedtime was obviously when people planted their seeds. But back then they didn't have machines, so I'm sure it would've been quite alot of work to walk a whole field & sprinkle seeds along the way.
Then in the harvest they would find out if all the hard work would be paid off.
At the end of this, God reassures us that both 'will never cease'.
It really reminds me that till now & till He comes back, we'll be expected to work hard on this earth. Work isn't something we should get away from or be lazy about. But at the same time, He assures us that with work comes results, comes rewards, comes the harvest~
So a key thing I picked up from this passage.
God payed attention to Noah.
It reminds me that God always takes the extra mile in His love for us. Are we just going to give Him some of us or none at all? Or are we going to give it all we've got as well?
Godbless~
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