As my State of South Carolina has been through one of the worst floods ever recorded in this area, its hard to wrap our minds around the devastation caused by water. Though my family is safe in their respective homes, all around us lives are forever changed.
We've only experienced three days of flooding. Noah experienced 40 days and 40 nights. The entire world was flooded, never to be the same again. The promise of God to never destroy the world by flood again has proven true, but the flooding in small portions of the world reminds us that we are not invincible. We are fragile. Life is but a breath, a vapor in terms of eternity.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8 NKJV)
The Scriptures go on to say that Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9b)
Preceding the first rain ever in the history of time, Noah was faithful to God. Noah listened to God. Noah was obedient to God. Noah worshiped God.
In the midst of the sinful perversion in the world, God honored Noah's faithfulness by giving him instructions on building an Ark. Then God honored his obedience in building the ark by providing His protection inside the ark. God said to Noah, "Come into the ark and all your household because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation." (Gen. 7:1)
Noah brought his family and two of every kind of bird and animal, clean and unclean, into the ark as God told him.
For 40 days and 40 nights of torrential rains and wind, the ark, filled with Noah's family and animals, bumped, rocked and floated through massive waters and debris that we can only imagine. After the rain had ceased, God used the wind to dry out the forever changed landscape of the earth, receded the waters and set the ark on Mount Ararat. When it was safe to exit the ark, Noah worshiped the God he served by building an altar. He sacrificed from every clean bird and animal before the Lord and He was very pleased. God sent the first rainbow shaped in an arc to symbolize His historic covenant to all mankind and every living creature was to never flood the earth destroying every living thing in its entirety again. He still reminds us of His covenant today.
Why do natural disasters happen? I truly believe to turn our hearts toward the One, true God (Jehovah, Yahweh) and to remind us that Jesus Christ is Lord. To set our minds on what truly matters. To help us see the fragility of life, and that we are only on this earth for a short time to fulfill our purpose in our generation - to lead people to Jesus Christ, to love God and love others deeply. We are truly helpless and hopeless without a Savior. Life is temporal, but souls are eternal. All souls need the saving grace of a loving Savior. God's favor and grace descends on the righteous, those covered by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, and who are surrendered to His Lordship in their lives. We all have the choice to choose Him or to not choose Him. I choose Jesus!
Jesus is our Ark as we rock, bump and live through the hard, the hurt, and disasters on earth.
Is God finding us righteous and faithful in our generation amidst the perversion, sinfulness, the complete dismissal of God's Word ,and the refusal to acknowledge Jesus as Lord? Are we living obedient lives, listening, and following His voice through the instruction of His Word? Is God finding us faithful in the midst of ridicule, standing up for Truth, willing to die for what we believe?
Let's be focused on the building up of the Body of Christ so when the final destruction of this earth comes we will be clothed, covered and protected inside the ark of His righteousness...
just like Noah.
My Pleasure,
Melanie
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