Noah endures forty days of rain

       March   7

Read Genesis 7:17-24; 9:8-15 and reflect on the passages.

The story of Noah's ark is one of the Most familiar Bible stories. Depictions of it grace everything from baby nursery bedding to decorative accents. And yet, if we focus only on the flood, it could be one of the most discouraging stories of the Bible.

However, within the narrative of Noah’s Ark, we have not only the story of the flood, but the rainbow as a promise to never flood the earth again. Also within this account, we have a display of one of the great tensions about our Lord: He is both a God of justice, sovereignty, and righteousness as well as a God of compassion, mercy, and love.

If we focus solely on the sinfulness that lead to the destruction of the flood, we can miss the rainbow and God’s covenant of hope.

And so it is with our own personal narrative and with this Lenten journey that we have a choice: we can fix our eyes on the catastrophe of sin or fix our eyes on the great promises of a risen King who has overcome and given us power and authority as we trust in Him.

Questions

1. How can you remember to fix your eyes on the Lord today?

2. What aspect of God’s creation reminds you of God’s faithfulness to us?

Prayer

Gracious God, thank You for giving us the choice of where to fix our eyes, hearts, and minds. Help us to choose wisely! Amen.

—Jessica Efird

The Story - Chapter 1 - Genesis 7

Genesis 7:5 (MSG)
"Noah did everything GOD commanded him."


Everything!  Did you catch that?  Everything!  Up to this point, for Noah, what God said was good enough for him.  I cannot even begin to imagine what type of faith was required to do what Noah did.  Just from a human standpoint, how Noah could leave himself wide open for the ridicule and embarrassment that would come from stepping outside the box in such a bold way. It would have been very uncomfortable to say the least.

I am thinking of times in my life when I knew for certain I was to behave in a particular fashion, but, my pride got in the way and I hesitated.  I was sure of the way God was leading but it didn’t feel natural, so I went my own way.  What if Noah had done that?  Would we have missed God's covenant?  Would God have had to use someone else?

I find that I often operate with "Plan B" in my back pocket.  I am ready to take a different route if the one I am on gets bumpy or to difficult to navigate.  Plan B is my safety net.  I once heard it said that God only has Plan A - and we are it.  I am so thankful for faithful servants like Noah.  I pray that I will someday be remembered as one who did everything God commanded.  At least that is my goal.  What about you?  It is never too late to join God in fulfilling Plan A.

Read Genesis 7 here

Listed to Genesis 7 here