I can’t imagine it raining for forty days and forty
nights. Two weeks off and on was plenty for
me recently!
After Noah built the ark the animals came on board as did
his wife, sons and daughter-in-laws. Imagine being locked on that boat with
your family and animals, a lot of animals.
Then the waiting game began.
It starts to rain, for the first time in history. Man, that would have been amazing. But to hear the first drops of rain dropping
on the roof of the ark would have be kind of frightening, too!
It didn’t stop. It
kept on coming down for forty days.
That’s a long time to be inside and hear it strange new sounds outside. But they knew God was in control.
Imagine with me how you would have felt when the water rose
enough to move the ark off the ground?
To feel the whole boat shift a little, then shift a lot, and finally
start floating? They were inside, just
the eight of them, with the animals, floating around. God granted them peace.
Forty days the waters came.
Not just showers, but torrential downpours. Water burst from below, too. How unnerving it must have been. Recently my city had over 5” of rain one
afternoon and evening. It was hard to go
to sleep that night hearing more rain beating on my roof.
Even when the rain stopped they weren’t able to get off the
boat. They continued on the ark for
another 150 days while the water flooded the entire world.
Water is destructive when it comes as a flood. Currents are formed and things move. People drown. Houses are destroyed.
Thud, the moving stopped, the ark rested, but still they
weren’t allowed off the boat.
Forty more days of sitting there no longer moving, just
waiting, taking care of the animals.
What about the animals on the boat? There had to be food for them. Someone would have to clean out the stalls.
What about the smell? They weren’t there
just a day or two, but they were on that ark a very long time!
Finally, they got to disembark from the ark. The animals head out to places God called
them and they leave Noah and his family. Eight people – four men and four women – the
only people in the world. They are
alone. I’m sure they took in the effects
around them of that devastating flood.
I’m sure they were a little overwhelmed.
Still, they build an altar to God and praise Him for
bringing them through the storms. The world
around them had started to spring into growth again.
God made a promise not to destroy the entire earth again by
water after the great flood. God is
faithful.
Ten years ago my house went through a flood. I had three feet of water in my lower
level. From my front yard there was a
‘lake’ separating me from my neighbors across the street. The devastation inside my house was
unbelievable. A waterbed had been picked
up from the corner of the room and gently placed at an angle in the middle of
the room! Some totes floated without
getting the contents wet, while the recycling which had been neatly stacked in
the garage was covering everything now.
This past week my city experienced major flooding along the
river the worst in history. Flood stage is 10’ and the river crested over 18’. Any house with a basement near the river
filled up. People who have never had
water in their basement had water. From
experience, I understand the damage water can leave. My heart aches for those going through this
disaster. I had some water in the house,
walls and a furnace need replaced, but most other things were up high
enough. Well-built, sealed items made it
though without a problem.
I recently heard a song that touched me, “Whatever You’re
Doing” (Something Heavenly by Sanctus Real).
Part of the song that says,
‘There’s a wave that’s crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender’.
Through the storms of life – literally or figuratively – when
we surrender to Him, He will get us through.
