Discover His heart: He knows exactly where we live and remembers us with His blessing
I must admit that I am slightly addicted to Christmas movies, and last month I watched a healthy dose of them and satisfied my craving. To justify my indulgence, I did a myriad of other things while I watched the same story told over and over again only with different faces and places. In one story, an adorable little boy was concerned that Santa could not find him on Christmas Eve because he had moved and had no chimney. Of course, this was no deterrent to Santa who did indeed find the little boy who had waited so patiently for him. All was well, end of story.
As Christians, we don’t put our hope in mythical figures, but sometimes in our waiting on the Lord for answers or direction in our challenges, we have the same concern that he has somehow forgotten where we live. The book of Genesis is filled with stories of men in similar positions of waiting – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all waited on the promise of God to be fulfilled in their lives. Noah was a man of obedience and patience, and today we read how God fulfilled His promise to him.
@ Genesis 8
“Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark.” (1) Whew! After spending over a year confined in a boat with all the family and his menagerie, I would think there may have been a moment when Noah wondered if God had lost track of him; after all, he was on the move. Finally, at this moment, God chose to fulfill His promise to him – God knew exactly where Noah lived.
Most often in life our walk is stable and certain, but there may come a time when our address changes. It may not change in a literal sense, but our life is suddenly filled with uncertainty or struggle and we are not living in the place of security we have always known. As the weeks turn to months, it’s easy to think that God has missed our move. But just like with Noah, God knows exactly where we live.
After the rains stopped, Noah moved ahead with anticipation by releasing a dove to test the waters, so to speak. The dove returned because there was no resting place for it; but Noah sent it out again seven days later, and it returned with a fresh olive leaf – something was happening. While we wait for God to remember us, to give our need His special touch, we can learn a lesson from the dove. The dove’s response to its flights told Noah that things were not ready; God’s work was not yet finished. All the while Noah was waiting in the ark, God was drying up the waters and making ready Noah’s destiny. And while we wait through our struggle, we can be assured that God is preparing our destiny and His plans “to give us a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Finally, he sent out the dove, and it didn’t return. “Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ‘Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.’” (15-16) Then God spoke. Is there anything sweeter than when God speaks? When the struggle has ended, His plan is revealed and we step out on dry ground?
Whatever uncertainty we are facing, whatever struggle we are going through, we can count on one thing – God knows where we live. While we wait, we can know that He is working on our behalf, preparing our future. Something is happening, and when the time is right, He will speak. And like Noah, we won’t complain about the weeks or months of struggle. No, we will build an altar, an altar of praise and thanksgiving to the One who knows exactly where we live.
Moving Forward: Is that…is that an olive leaf I see?
Tomorrow @ Joshua 11-15
Phyllis Benigas 