S) "4 For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” 5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him."
Genesis 7:4-5 (NASB)
O) God speaks to Noah with unusual specificity in this passage. God gives Noah a very specific timeframe to see. He tells him exactly when the flood will start, and exactly how long it will rain. Notice how God didn't tell Noah when the flood would come at the start of his construction. God didn't tell Noah, "Hey, in one hundred years I will flood the earth." However, when the timing became critically close, God specified when it would start. It's also interesting that God told Noah how long the rain would go, that it would only last forty days. The flooding on the earth would last half a year, and they would be confined to the ark a little longer than that, but the rain - which I think must have been the scariest part - was defined for Noah and his family ahead of time.
A) There have been many times when I wanted to know the specifics of things happening in my life. Especially, I have longed to know the specific timing for certain things. God has not often obliged, that I could tell. However, the crucial lesson from the above passage, comes in v.5, not v.4, when we read that Noah did according to all that that he was commanded. All. Noah was living a life in full obedience. It is no wonder, then, that God would have confidence to give him specific details about what was coming, especially about timing. Knowing my past propensity, and current struggle, with laziness in the form of procrastination, it becomes obvious where the danger is, if I have too much information. If God told me the flood was coming on day seven, would I wait until the evening of day six to try to cram the animals into the ark? If I want warning, or for God to prepare me, by knowing the timing of things to come, I should first commit myself to immediate and complete obedience, with or without knowledge of details I wish to know.
P) Father, I trust Your commands, because I know Your character. You are a trustworthy Lord, and a loving God. I want to obey more immediately, Lord. I want to obey more completely, Father. When my mind is ensnared to the trap of thinking I need details in order to act, remind me again of the example of Noah. Show me again, that I don't need all the details, if I'm not the one forming the plans. I can obey without seeing the whole picture, if I trust the one who does. You are a holy, sovereign, loving, just, and gracious God. Let Your will be done. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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