Month: November 2024

Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 

What must it have been like on the ark? Wild animals. Livestock. People. The smells, the noise, must have been overwhelming. Did the humans at least have perspective, thinking, “Well, at least we aren’t drowning like everyone else”?

Genesis 8:2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 

Did the animals have any clue what was going on? Were they afraid? Angry? Did they feel trapped? Did they have any concept of the fact that the only reason they were still alive was because they were stuck on that boat with all those other animals and people? Did they have any way to gain perspective in this situation?

Genesis 8:3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I lose perspective on a situation, when I gripe and grumble, not realizing that where You have led me is protecting me from something worse. Help me to seek You and see You in every day, in every situation, in every circumstance. Draw me closer to You. Amen.

Genesis 8:4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.  

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.  

I always wonder what was going on on the earth that God thought His best course of action was utter destruction of land, wildlife, and people. I don’t think He took this course of action lightly, and He promised to never do it again after it was done, so I think this widespread destruction took a toll on Him, but what brought Him to this precipice in the first place?

Genesis 7:23a Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.

God’s divine, not human, so it’s not like He sent the flood and then realized He’d been a bit hasty. But He never chooses widespread destruction and starting over again. He chooses compassion later in Genesis when Abraham “convinces” Him to spare Sodom if He finds even five righteous people. He chooses compassion when He sends Jesus for our sins in the New Testament. So why now and why never again?

Genesis 7:23b Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

Precious Savior, I know that Your thoughts are nothing like my thoughts, and Your ways are far beyond anything I can imagine (Is 55:8). Thank You for the ability to question when I don’t understand. Thank You for the ability to draw closer to You, even when my questions have no answers. Thank You that You are sovereign, You are in control, You are loving and compassionate and merciful. Thank You that I don’t have to understand life to understand these truths. Amen.

Genesis 7:24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 7:18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 

Again, today, I am thinking about Hurricane Helene and the destruction wrought in Western North Carolina by the storm. I want to make it clear that I do NOT think that what happened in WNC was in any way “God’s Wrath”. I am sure there are those who do, but I do not.

Genesis 7:19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered

However, because of the flooding, death, and destruction that so recently ripped through WNC, today’s scripture hits entirely differently. Waters rising with no end in sight, covering everything, destroying so much in its path? I’ve seen those pictures. Humans and animals swept away by the storm? I’ve heard those stories. Horrifying. Unfathomable.

Genesis 7:20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. 

Precious Savior, I sit with today’s scripture unsure of how to process death and destruction on this scale–a scale that hits so close to home, given the recent destruction in the mountains. Help me to hold on to You, hold on to hope, when life throws unfathomable destruction into the world. Help me cling to You as I try to make sense of the senselessness. Help me. Amen.

Genesis 7:21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 7:15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.

I would imagine Noah and his crew had to endure a lot of waiting during this time. I figure that most people are pretty bad at waiting. I know I am.

Genesis 7:16a The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.

As I type this, I am waiting for the start of a race in which I am running. Waiting, for me at least, is not easy. There is usually a lot of fretting involved. But what if I use that time to draw closer to God?

Genesis 7:16b Then the Lord shut him in.

Precious Savior, There is a lot of waiting involved in this life. Forgive me when I squander that time with useless fretting. Help me to use the waiting to draw closer to You. Amen.

Genesis 7:17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.

Have a blessed day. 

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 

With the memory of the flooding and devastation from Hurricane Helene so fresh in my mind, the story of Noah and the flood carries a different weight for me today. I cannot imagine the fear and anguish of those watching the rain for forty days from outside the ark, but I’ve seen pictures and footage of destruction that must have been similar. Heartbreaking and terrifying.

Genesis 7:12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

This scene also brings to mind Abraham and God in conversation about the righteous and the wicked in Sodom. God had plans to destroy the city, but Abraham asked if God would destroy it if there were even ten righteous people there–only ten. With the rainbow, God promised not to destroy the world by flood again. For Abraham, He is willing not to destroy Sodom if there are even ten righteous people there. Both acts, to me, speak of hope.

Genesis 7:13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for Your hope, for the ability to live with the consequences of our actions (often its own form of punishment), for the ability to turn back to You when we realize we have lost our way. Thank You for being a God of repentance and redemption instead of a God who destroys. I’ve got a lot of complicated emotions swirling this morning. Thank You for sitting with me as I process. Thank You for drawing me closer. Thank You for giving me hope. Amen.

Genesis 7:14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 7:5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

In the span of 10 verses in Genesis 7, the number 7 is mentioned four times.  Noah is told to take seven pairs of clean animals, seven pairs of birds, this will happen in seven days, with a reminder that it was seven days before the rains started. That seems a lot to me.

Genesis 7:6-7 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 

The number 7 is seen as meaning completion and perfection in the Bible. But sometimes it’s just a number. Were the repetitive sevens in Genesis 7 a message to Noah? A sign of hope for him and his family? A message to us that God was going to right what he saw as a “cosmic wrong” with humanity and all would be well? Is it just a coincidence that so many 7s appear in this section?

Genesis 7:8-9 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 

Precious Savior, Sometimes the number 7 serves as a reminder from You of perfection and completeness, that You are sovereign and in control. Sometimes it’s just a number. Regardless of how it is used in this passage, thank You for using it to draw us closer to You through study and prayer. Help us seek to draw closer to You daily. Amen.

Genesis 7:10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 6:19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.  

I have a difficult time with change. It frustrates me that even a change in schedule gets me a little wound up, causes me to worry about various things (all of them unnecessary, I’m sure). I cannot even imagine being Noah in this situation. However, it seems like Noah took it all in stride. According to v22, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”

Genesis 6:20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.

I can learn a lot from Noah in this situation: When God calls us to something, even something big, there is no need to fret and worry. All we need to do is do the work. His mercies are new every morning. His grace is sufficient for us. Worry and fret do nothing for Him or His kingdom (and nothing positive for us, either), so I must figure out a way not to fret and just do the work.

Genesis 6:21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Precious Savior, Thank You that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, exactly as I am. Help me to manage the side of me that worries and frets, especially when change is involved. Help me to focus on You in all situations, to do the work You set before me. Help me to loosen my grip on my love of routine, so I can shine Your light more easily. Amen.

Genesis 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 6:17a I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. 

Can you imagine how Noah must have felt during this time? Anguish that the earth was going to be destroyed. Relief that his family would be spared. Worry about the task being placed before him. Maybe doubt that any of this was actually real. God asking him to build a boat because a flood was coming…eventually? Seriously?

Genesis 6:17b Everything on earth will perish. 

Today’s scripture reminds me of a scene in the movie “Evan Almighty” where a reporter asks the protagonist, “What makes you so sure God chose you?” Evan’s response? “He chose all of us.”  I know that there have been plenty of times that I doubted what I felt called to do. I didn’t feel strong enough or capable enough or in any way the right person for the job. But God has called each of us in a unique way to serve His kingdom.

Genesis 6:18a But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—

Precious Savior, The fact that You have a job for each of us in Your kingdom, something special that You created us uniquely to do, that is such a beautiful gift. Thank You. Help us, when we are scared, not to doubt Your call in our lives. Give us the strength to shine for You. Amen.

Genesis 6:18b ….you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with
you. 

Have a blessed day.