I feel like our nation has been holding its breath since the November election and now, post-inauguration, we’re slowly releasing a sigh. Maybe yours is a disappointed sigh. Or perhaps a relieved one. We don’t talk politics here.
We talk about Jesus and His faithfulness to help us DEAL with the politics.
Noah’s Ark, My Salvation
As I SLOWLY make my way through Genesis in 2021 in my ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal, I’ve noticed the 4-6 verses I read each day usually offers the needed wisdom to cope with whatever I’m facing.
On the day before the presidential inauguration, Noah and his family entered the ark, and the rain began.
“For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.” Genesis 7:17 (emphasis added)
The ark was their salvation, LIFTING THEM ABOVE the danger and destruction. Jesus was my ark on inauguration day–and everyday–lifting all those who trust Him above the fear and uncertainties that surround us.
I shared more fully on social media the thoughts our God used to calm my heart (CLICK HERE to see FB post; CLICK HERE to see Instagram post).
So when the whole planet DIDN’T spin off its axis post-inauguration, a new question surfaced for us all:
What now?
Noah Disembarks
While reading a little farther in Noah’s story, I tried to imagine what he and his family felt when they stepped off the ark into their new world. Excitement, perhaps, but everything they knew was gone. What would it have been like to step out of a confined space–where they’d lived for nearly a year–and onto the grassy new earth?
A very different earth.
Imagine the silence. Eerie, lonely silence. No houses. No cities. No one except the seven other people who were saved with Noah. Let’s look at those first few actions and reactions that took place when they stepped into their new world.
Noah Thanks God
Noah’s first recorded action was thanksgiving. He built an altar and sacrificed the animals he’d brought along for this very purpose.
“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 8:20
Sometimes, I get so caught up in the moment, I forget to thank God for His faithfulness. Did you thank God when our country enjoyed a relative peace on January 20th–regardless of your political leanings? We can ALWAYS find something to thank God for!
God Responds
When God smelled that pleasing aroma of thanksgiving, He was moved.
“The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’” Genesis 8:21–22 (emphasis added)
Human Pondering
Let’s take another minute to imagine ourselves in Noah’s skin. After seeing what God had done to the whole earth because of sin, wouldn’t you be a little afraid to sin again?
Noah & his family needed to be reminded that even though humans would always sin, God’s tenderness, grace, and mercy were even greater than their sins. He wasn’t a vindictive Taskmaster, waiting for the next opportunity to destroy their world.
God brought them safely to a new beginning because they had trusted in Him. Period. And remaining focused on His promises and faithfulness would see them through the hardships of starting over.
New Worlds – Same & Different
We see two new worlds in Genesis 1-9: one a Garden for His perfect Creation, and the other a landing place for Noah’s imperfect family to start over. I’ve bolded the things in the two worlds that were the same in Genesis 1 & 9.
Adam & Eve’s Perfect Garden
When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, He gave them guidelines to build their lives (Genesis 1:28–31 enumerated with emphasis below…):
- God blessed them and said to them,
- Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth…
- …and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
- I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food…
- God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Noah’s Imperfect World
When God brought Noah and his family out of the ark, He also gave them guidelines to build new lives. Some were the same as what He told Adam and Eve. Some were VERY different. (Genesis 9:1–5, enumerated with emphasis below…)
- Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them,
- Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
- The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
- Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
- But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
- And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
Now–Our Imperfect Post-Inauguration World
Regardless of whether you sighed with disappointment or relief on January 20th, we can all agree our nation–and our world–is still imperfect. Now, what can we learn from the two new worlds–perfect and imperfect–that we see in Genesis 1-9? Here’s what I’ve gleaned from my weeks of study so far:
- Though every inclination of the human heart is sinful, this world will continue to spin until God fulfills His purposes and plan. (Come quickly, Lord Jesus!)
- God still blesses the faithful, even in this imperfect world.
- The faithful must go on living and loving until the day we are called to eternity.
- Finally, in a perfect world–we’d all be vegetarians! LOL! But lets apply Paul’s philosophy of grace and Rom. 14:6 to this, shall we?
“Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Romans 14:6
I thought that was a good Scripture…and then I read a little farther and found it an even better challenge for the “NOW” in which we live:
“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Romans 14:7–8
