Promises, Promises...

Waking up this morning, I found myself particularly frustrated. You see, I am a master's student and will be graduating with my degree next semester (Lord willing), so I have been job searching for about two months now with no avail. In addition, I have been in constant prayer as to where God would have me work and have been earnestly praying for a position to open up. Over the past two months I have made a lot of excellent contacts and have even been on a couple of interviews as well. Needless to say, I had been feeling somewhat discouraged in the job hunt...until today that is, when I read about Noah's journey.  


Genesis 8:1-22, "Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. ² The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. ³ And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. ⁴ Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
 
⁶ So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. ⁷ Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. ⁸ He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.
⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. ¹¹ 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. ¹² So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.
 
¹³ 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. ¹⁴
And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.
 
¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.
 
²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
 

²² “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

After reading the account of Noah and the Ark and his journey in waiting for God to move and dry up the waters, I began to understand more about what God expects from me, just as He did Noah. Noah had been on the Ark full of animals, tossed to and fro in the storm for 40 days and 40 nights. Yet, when the storm was over, Noah did not receive instant relief from the event but rather he had to wait before he would hear God speak and move again.

 
The passage that instantly drew me in was not only that Noah had to wait but "God remembered Noah" and not only did He remember Him, He remembered His promises. What God spoke to me is that He is a God of His promises. While God has never promised me a job, His Word says that His love endures forever for those who know Him and seek His face. Therefore, I will not fear because I know that if Noah can endure such a rough, life-changing journey and wait for God's timing and direction, then so can I. I was not only encouraged by Noah's patience but his faithfulness to God, when God's timing was perfect and Noah was able to leave the Ark, Noah remembered the Lord and built an alter to Him and offered a sacrifice of worship.

 

After reading Genesis chapter 8, my troubles seem utterly unimportant compared to what Noah faced; however, in reading of Noah's account, I know that the same God that watched over Noah is the same God that is watching over you and me. And when God speaks, I will be waiting and listening, and offering up to Him a sacrifice of worship. Therefore, not only will I wait for Him but I will be encouraged and be an encouragement to others along the way.

Verse 22 reminds me of God's love for mankind to be redeemed in summing up. "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night
Shall not cease.”

 

Be assured when your season comes to wait that God is a God of His promises...we never have to say to Him "promises, promises?!?!"

 

For more encouragement in how you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and obtain the joy of salvation, please visit: http://www.livingwaters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=81&Itemid=229&lang=en