Patiently Waiting. Genesis 8:1-13

Patiently Waiting. Genesis 8:1-13

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. Genesis 8:1-5(NKJV)

Fountains from deep within the earth opened up and water spewed out tearing apart the land mass and creating great rips in the earth’s surface. When looking at a globe of the earth you can see how continents still are drifting apart from this great flood that God caused. It was an amazing work and just as the fountains opened, they closed.

No longer was there a firmament of water that hovered in the atmosphere; it had dropped to earth. And as the water receded, large lakes formed, and the suns heat caused evaporation and pressure changes so that wind swept across it. Now the earth was formed into its final state; the form as we know it today.

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Genesis 8:6-7(NKJV)

Noah continued to believe in God. He knew God said it would rain forty days and he waited patiently for the timing of God to be complete. In my life, God has always spoken to my heart saying to be patient and wait for His timing. This was a message that I had to learn to listen to.

I wanted to be a quick success for God. I conformed my life to the message at church, I read my Bible, and I wanted to do the work of God. I desired to be the servant God used. Yet, I was the one making the decisions of what I would do.

I started ministries and forced things to happen. Each time felt like I was in a car that was running out of gas. I started out fine, but slowly my momentum stopped. Where I found shut doors, I kicked them open and patience was never my strongest quality.

It was only after the Lord brought me to my knees with discouragement I finally repented and gave up. I reached a place in my life where I would not move into another ministry and that I would patiently wait until the Lord’s calling was certain. My life became like Noah waiting for the rain to stop.

I went to church, to work, raised my family, and yet in service I did nothing. Years passed and I felt as if I forgot how to serve the Lord; at one point my church attendance failed miserably. It was as if my own springs of emotional fountains opened up and my life was flooding.

It was there that the Lord encouraged me to open a window and planted me back into a church home. In that church home I would learn to be more patient while waiting on the Lord. Here small opportunities opened up to serve and I found joy in it.

Though Noah was waiting, he still was curious. He wanted to know a bit about their situation so he studied some of the signs. He sent out a raven, being a carnivorous bird, it would go to where the food was. However it kept returning; allured no doubt by the on board cargo. So there was no food out there for the raven. This confirmed all was dead.

He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. Genesis 8:8-11(NKJV)

Noah sent out a dove. It was only after the dove came back with an olive branch that Noah realized the waters were reseeded enough that the low elevation growing olive trees were finally in fresh air again.

Noah was studying his new environment and that is the object of waiting on the Lord. He made us to be curious, to learn. He wants us to be inquisitive and know what is going on around us; but God desires us to stay in that same spot until He says it is time to go out.

Noah understood the perfection of the Sabbath and each time he waited it was seven days. In the mean time, he was serving the animals, taking care of his family, and being that person of strength they needed. Yet on the Sabbath, he rested to contemplate what God was doing in their lives.

So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore. Genesis 8:12(NKJV)

This seventh day was different; the dove did not come back. It was a sign that things were about to change again and hope filled Noah’s heart.

This is a great reason to go to church on Sundays. God may have you waiting and every seven days you show up to do the same thing and learn of the Lord; but then one day it changes and from there your whole life is ready to change.

And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. Genesis 8:13(NKJV)

Though He only removed the covering, Noah was still in the ark and the patience they learned was going to have to continue for they could see dry land, but they had no guidance from God to leave the ark.

Does this message find you in days, months, and even years of waiting? At times you may have come close to being burned out, but you are surviving. We are never to give up on the future that God had made for us and though He is, at times, silent, He has a perfect plan for us all.

It will only put us in harm’s way if we try to kick open the doors of our life. More valuable are the trials we reside in for they help us be patient people.

If you are confused, lonely, and waiting, continue in your church home. Be curious, using the time to learn about your world and God; then as promised, one day the things that held you back will reside and you will see life begin to change. Yet do not get too excited to quick; we like Noah must continue to wait for the doors to open.