"And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen"
(Genesis 8:1-5).
God remembers:
We see here that God was in total control. He is in control of our circumstances as well. He sent a strong wind to help dry up the water. Many times God uses nature to bless individuals, communities, or nations. Sometimes, in a drought, He sends rain. Let us always praise and worship Him for all of His blessings to us.
The ark rested on the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month. That means that the ark rested on Mount Ararat on the seventeenth day of Abib. Is there any spiritual significance to that? Did anything else ever happen on the seventeenth day of Abib? Yes. In the exodus from Egypt the Israelites passed through the Red Sea on the seventeenth day of Abib. Jesus Christ rose from the dead in His resurrection on the seventeenth day of Abib. God has perfect timing in everything that He does. This is a message of liberation. Noah was liberated from the ark, the Israelites were liberated from Egyptian slavery, and we are liberated from our sins by a living Christ who rose from the dead.
What is the relevance? God remembers- He never forgets anything. He remembers your sin no more when you come to Him for salvation. He will cast your sins into the sea of His forgetfulness never to be remembered again. As far as the east is from the west He will remember your sins no more- and those are opposite directions that never meet.
God is a big God and there is nothing that He cannot do. Keep things in perspective- always have a BIG God and
a little problem.
And take everything to Him in prayer. He loves for you to communicate with Him. Be sincere in prayer and lay out before Him your petitions on your private prayer altar. As your Heavenly Father, He will only do what is best for you. Jesus said,
"...and I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"
(Luke 11:9-10).
"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made- and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground, but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth- then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark, and the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off- so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more"
(Genesis 8:6-12).
God brings encouragement by the use of a bird:
Mount Ararat is in the land of Armenia which is in the present nation of Turkey.
Noah was looking for an indicator that would tell him the physical condition of
the earth as he wanted to get off of the ark. The bird brought him the proof
he needed to know that the olive trees were doing good in the sunshine and
sprouting forth new shoots. This indicated to him that the waters were drying
up and that dry land was emerging so he could leave the ark in the near future.
All too often Satan breeds discouragement but God is a God Who brings encouragement
to His people. Hint: a wonderful sermon or bible study lesson can be prepared about this.
Is there anywhere else in the bible where God uses birds as a sign of encouragement? Yes. God commanded ravens to feed Elijah. You can read about this in
(1 Kings 17:6). And a dove landed on Jesus at His water baptism
(Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). The dove is a spiritual symbol of God the Holy Spirit.
Along a different train of thought, Jesus taught, in one of His sermons, the
helplessness of a dove in comparison to the physical or mental damage caused by mankind,
"...behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves- be ye therefore wise as serpents, harmless as doves, and beware of men..."
(Matthew 10:16-17).
What is the relevance to you and I? Let us act like Jesus.
Since God gave encouragement to Noah, I want to teach on this subject here for awhile
because I think it is very important. Why? Because one of Satan's major weapons is
discouragement and we are not ignorant of that fact
(2 Corinthians 2:11). The first part of this teaching, I want to direct to those
believers who are discouraged because they are in pain. I write it in a little
different way so I can minister to others who are hurting.
Encouragement For A Suffering Christian
Are you suffering and in pain?
Are you dying from a fatal disease?
Are you are going through a painful divorce?
Have you lost a loved one?
Have you lost your job or money?
Are you suffering persecution, or are you suffering because of some other reason?
Well, you (as a child of God) are not alone because
God is going to go through it with you.
So no matter what you are going through, God has given you a Comforter to help you.
When Jesus was on this earth He was the Comforter, but now the Comforter is
God the Holy Spirit:
Jesus said,
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter who
will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all
truth. The world at large cannot receive Him, because it is not
looking for Him and does not recognize Him. But you do...
No, I will not abandon you as orphans- I will come to you"
(John 14:16-18).
It is Going to Be OK
God Has Everything Under Control |
Now, I want you to do this- I want you to insert your name in the
following scriptures and read them over and over again. By doing this you
will realize
how very special you are,
that you are not abandoned,
that you have God as your Comforter,
that God loves you very much,
and that you will realize that God is in the process of helping you.
He will help you when you are hurting and He will help you when you
are grieving.
As a child of God you have a right to call out to
God to help you when you need help- don't be too ashamed or to proud to do that.
God wants you to call out to Him when you need to. That is the
Father-heart of God. He loves to help His children.
"But now,
(insert your name here),
the Lord who created you says:
Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine.
(-----),
when you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you.
(-----),
when you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown!
(-----),
when you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up- the
flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior"
(Isaiah 43: 1 - 3 New Living Translation NLT).
(Your name is in red because you are under the blood of Jesus)
"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in
all our troubles so that we can comfort others.
When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same
comfort God has given us."
(2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4).
There is not a person alive on the earth who has all of the answers
of why, from God's point of view, you are going thru what you are
going thru. But you can take comfort in the fact that the Lord says,
"I will never leave you or forsake you"
(Hebrews 13:5).
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good
of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them"
(Romans 8:28).
"Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and
gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light"
(Matthew 11:28 - 30).
God's perspective is infinitely greater than ours. He sees the
"bigger and better picture". My old pastor used to say: it is like
God sitting in a chair doing embroidery work. From our perspective
we look at the back of it and all we see are of the knots, hanging
threads, and tangles. It looks like a disaster and a failure. However,
when God is finished with it, He turns it around and shows it to us
and it is a beautiful masterpiece of artwork. He really is in control
and He knows what He is doing. He is also the potter and we
are the clay.
"Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right
road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
Remember, O Lord, Your unfailing love and compassion, which you have
shown from long ages past"
(Psalms 25:4 - 6).
"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it
be an opportunity for joy.
For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will
be strong in character and ready for anything"
(James 1:2 - 4).
"O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How
can you say God refuses to hear your case?
Have you never heard or understood? Do not you know that the Lord is
the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows
faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding.
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak.
Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up.
But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly
high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will
walk and not faint"
(Isaiah 40:27 - 31).