Scripture
‘So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. ‘ Genesis 8:18,20
Observation
The headlines could have been taken straight from 2021:
“40 days to flood the earth!”
“4 months to run aground on the mountain!”
“4 more months until release of raven!”
“Noah says ‘3 more months’ until ark opened…”
Noah and his family were stuck in isolation, and the date of their release kept getting pushed back farther and farther! 40 days had stretched into a full year, by the time Noah opened the ark and allowed his family to walk back down the gangplank.
Instead of moaning and complaining about how long the process had taken, their first reaction was instead to sacrifice to the Lord out of gratefulness for His protection and provision.
Application
The goalpost keeps getting moved! “Two weeks to flatten the curve”, has turned into a never ending series of community restrictions. If I focus on my own inconvenience, it’s easy to let myself get discouraged. The difference between me and Noah is that he was stuck in a darkened boat for a full year, with herds of stinking animals to keep him company! It would have been only natural for him to slip into a pity party by the time they left the ark…but instead we find Noah reacting with a heart of gratitude for God’s goodness and His provision. Even in a difficult and drawn-out season, Noah’s attitude demonstrated gratitude toward God.
As I step into the year 2022, I choose to have the same attitude as Noah–and choose gratitude instead of grumbling. I serve a great big God who has provided everything that I need, and He deserves my praise!
Prayer
Thank you God for providing all that I need! Thank you that nothing catches you off-guard, and that you see the end from the beginning. Help me to stay grateful and trust you even when things don’t go as I expected–knowing that you are accomplishing your plans in my life.
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