Flood - Destruction or Deliverance

Thursday, October 15th

Read

Did you notice that Noah never speaks a single word in the flood narrative?
He asks no questions. He voices no complaints. He makes no dramatic declarations of faith. He simply does what God commands, again and again. The narrator describes him as a flat character on purpose.

Notice that passages- Genesis 6:8-9, 22, 7:5, 16- 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord….9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God…22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him…5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him… as God had commanded Noah.

Noah's entire identity in this story is defined by one thing: he listened to God, did what God said, and trusted God in the gaps. That kind of obedience is not passive. It is the most active and courageous response a person can offer when the world around them is dissolving. Quiet obedience is not weakness. It is profound trust.

Application

Noah obeyed and trusted. How can you grow in obedience and trust?

Hear- seek God, listen to God. Remember Noah remained silent. He heard God’s instructions and he did it. Which means for our lives, for many of us, it’s not that we “can’t” hear, it’s the fact that the pace and noise of life is too much. Slow down, get quiet, and listen. Psalm 46:10 is a passage we like to memorize- Be still and know that I am God. But what we miss in the rest of the passage is that it is a passage of deliverance, refuge and rescue, to bring us into union with God. Be still, quiet yourself and listen to God.

Then, obey. Are you following your way, someone else’s way, the wrong way or God’s way? I can’t tell you how many times people “complain” to me about their life, blame it on God, when they haven’t done anything to choose his way. His way is harder, narrow, but Jesus says, “he is the way, the truth and life. No one comes to the father, except through him.”
Jesus is the only way, maybe, you haven’t made that declaration.

Have you personally placed your trust in Christ's righteousness, or are you still attempting to navigate life's flood on your own terms?

If you have never declared your trust in Jesus as Savior, consider doing so today in your own words. If you have, write a brief prayer of gratitude for the righteousness that covers you.

Which is that last observation of obeying and trusting. Declare that you trust him. Declaring your trust in Him is wrestling with why don’t you trust him in a certain area of life? Because there are times where I do need to declare, “God I trust you in this.” And other times where I wrestle with him, “God, why don’t I trust you in this?” And that is a way to grow our trust, wrestling with God why we don’t.

Where are the gaps in your own life right now -- the places where you do not have all the answers, where you cannot see what God is doing? What does trusting God in those gaps actually look like for you in a practical sense?