When the text says God “remembered,” it simply means the time had come for God to act on His own initiative, which required nothing of Noah except patient waiting.
I wonder if Noah was just going about the chores he had been doing every day for weeks and months, feeding the animals, cleaning the stalls, when he was startled by a shaft of light coming through the open space just below the roofline. Did he drop his broom and stumble over the feed bucket as he yelled for his family while scurrying toward the upper deck and the window he had put into the side of the ark? With trembling hands did he throw back the shutters, gasping as the brilliant sunshine stung his eyes and the icy wind blew across his face? With his eyes watering and his voice choked with emotion, did he embrace his wife while he shouted his praise to the God Who had sent the storm, but Who also sent the sunshine? Noah knew God had remembered him! God was moving to change his circumstances in answer to his silent prayers!
Praise God that you and I can be where Jesus is-now, and for all eternity-because He lives within us and has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us!
When your parents forsake you through death or abandonment, or your spouse forsakes you through divorce, you have His presence. (Ps. 27:10)
When the fire of adversity increases in intensity, you have His presence. (Dan. 9:1-25)
When you are overwhelmed by burdens or depression, you have His presence. (Isa. 43:2)
When you and I follow Jesus, He promises that we will be where He is. And there is not one place in the entire universe, visible or invisible, where He is not! What a blessing!
The New Testament describes the characteristics of Christ that are to be revealed in our lives as spiritual “fruit.” Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is the fruit of the Spirit that ought to be bountifully present in our homes. What kind of “fruit” are your children eating within your home? Does their “diet” consist of nagging, complaining, anger, bickering, gossip, impatience, meanness, selfishness, and rudeness? Or are they learning to be loving when someone is not lovable, to have joy when life is not fun, to have peace in the midst of pressure, to be kind when treated roughly, to be unselfish when they don’t get their way, to forgive when they are wronged? How easy do you make it for your children to “eat healthy”?
Our homes should be places of rich, bountiful, moral, and spiritual teaching for our children. But that is only possible if we ourselves are moral and spiritual people, fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
God is looking for a few good men and women. Men and women who are willing
to go against the current of popular opinion,
to hold firm convictions in a world where “anything goes,”
to speak the truth when it is not politically correct,
to walk with God when everyone else is running away from Him.
God is looking for those who believe
that what He says is more important than what anyone else says,
that what He thinks is more important than what anyone else thinks,
that what He wants is more important than what anyone else wants.
that His will is more important than their own.
God is looking for another Noah. Another Meshach. Another Shadrach. Another Abednego. One person with God is not alone but a majority!
Someone has said that if God were small enough for us to understand, He would not be big enough to save us. Yet the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to us. And the revelation is true . . .
At the birth of time and space and human history, against the inky blackness of the universe and the shadowy mysteriousness of eternity, the character of God shone forth with the radiant beauty of a full moon in a cloudless night sky. Even the casual reader of the creation account in Genesis can easily identify . . .
His unequaled power as He called into existence that which had no existence,
His unlimited sovereignty as He took counsel with Himself and decided to create man in His own image,
and His unsearchable goodness that was revealed when He created Adam, the first man.
In what way have you glimpsed the character of God today? Would you praise Him for it?
