Missions Paul

Today may be the day for you to leave the comfort zone that you have been in while the flood has been happening. You have been waiting not for the rain to stop nor for the waters to recede, not even to see dry ground. You have been waiting for the voice of God. The One who called you into the safety of the ark is the One who will call you out of it. There is a time to shelter and a time to move out.

“Then God said to Noah,’Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.” (Genesis 8 v 15-19)

Moving into the next season requires care and wisdom. When the ark door was opened, there wasn’t a stampede. Can you imagine if there had been? But they came out, ‘one kind after another’.

Whatever the order was, there was a sense of order.

If God is calling you into a new season, don’t rush into it. Take it one step at a time.

This next season will be new to you. Noah had never lived in this new world after the flood. Everything was transformed. Yet, the same creation command remained: multiply and increase. This is the mandate for your life: to let your life improve, grow, and succeed. All that you have discovered while in the place of safety, bring it with you. All that you protected, bring it with you.

You may have had dreams in that safe place. You may have developed new gifts. Above all, you may have changed and grown. The person you were before entering the ark of safety is not the same person coming out. God isn’t asking you to leave all these things behind. He is calling you to carry them with you and within you so you can flourish in this new season.

Maybe today you’re standing at the open door, feeling a little overwhelmed about what comes next. Let me tell you this: you take one step forward, and that’s enough. Move at your own pace, but keep moving forward. Soon, you’ll look back and see the joys of this new day.

The temptation of your TODAY is to act rather than wait for your TOMORROW. This goes against what we have probably believed our entire lives. Why wait for tomorrow when you can do it today?

“By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was parched.” (Genesis 8 v 13-14)

It is the 601st year of Noah’s life, and it is the first day of the first month. It feels like the start of a new year that we all experience on January 1st. It is a good day to act—a reset moment, a day to begin again. These can be good starting points. But Noah waited.

Then we notice a small detail that can easily be overlooked. Noah peels away part of the covering that protected them from the heavy rain. After surviving in the darkness of the ark, with its smells and noise, can you imagine the thrill of pulling back even a part of the covering, letting in the sunlight and a breath of fresh air? It must have been so exhilarating. This is a moment in all our lives that we need more of. This is a look moment, not a sign to leave. Noah waits again.

We need to slow down and remind ourselves that Noah isn’t disembarking yet, even though everything looks positive. The timing is right; the rain has stopped; the ground appears dry.

One more month and 27 days pass. Noah knew what we need to understand: what looks correct doesn’t mean it’s ready for us yet. Restraint is crucial for our discipleship.

In our lives, on so many occasions, we face the temptation to get things back to normal. None more so when we have gone through some traumatic experience. We want to move on to the next season. The dangerous time can be when all the signs point to it being that moment. Looking better may not be the starting gun to go ahead. Hold your nerve, wait, what looks dry is not completely dry. You need a good foundation; it will come. Wait a little longer. Forge courage so that you don’t move prematurely into your victory. Every part of you might be crying ‘Now’, but that might not mean ‘Move’.

Many who read this short devotion will have had these moments, and perhaps some are in them right now. Wait. Just a little longer. Dry is not completely dry.

We dislike waiting. We want our prayers answered immediately. We live in an instant world. Get it now, even if we have to pay for it later.

One thing we often forget about Noah and the ark is the times Noah had to wait. For seven days, Noah stayed and then …

“He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. ¹² He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.” (Genesis 8 v 10-12)

Keep waiting, there is an olive tree that is alive, and you are about to receive a leaf from it.

Your olive leaf is on its way. It might already be arriving, carried by the very thing you thought had abandoned you. Maybe it will come in the evening, when you’re tired and close to giving up. It might be smaller than you expected, more subtle, and easy to miss if you’re not paying attention.

But it will arrive. When it does, pay close attention. Hold it in your hands. Let it serve as a reminder that God keeps His promises, that life prevails, and that resurrection is real.

When you do, you’ll realise that the new season of your life is ready for you to step into.

That olive leaf is God saying, “Get ready. What I promised is about to unfold. The new season isn’t just coming; it’s already begun beneath the surface. The life you’ve been praying for, the breakthrough you’ve been believing for, the fresh start you’ve been hoping for, it’s closer than you think.”

And here’s the beautiful part: when your dove finally doesn’t return, when that final confirmation arrives, you’ll be ready. All those seven-day waits will have prepared you. All those empty-handed returns will have taught you to trust. All those olive-leaf moments will have built your faith.

The moment to start over is now.

Not someday. Not eventually. Not in some distant future when everything is perfect.

Now.

Timing is everything. Noah survived the flood; the waters have receded; and now there’s a bigger test than going into the ark—when is it time to leave it?

“After forty days, Noah opened a window he had made in the ark, and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.” (Genesis 8 v 6-9)

Just because you can see the mountains doesn’t mean you should fling wide the door; there is wisdom in opening a window first. Just because you can see improvement doesn’t mean everything has changed.

Whatever the ravens and doves mean to you, wisdom urges you to use them.

The raven never returned. We know people who are like ravens. They excel in a crisis, making do with whatever scraps they find; they’re survivors and adaptors. But Noah is searching for something else.

The dove returned. We know people who are doves, as they are peaceful. They need trees and gentle environments. Noah realised that the world wasn’t ready for him just yet.

The dove isn’t better than the raven; it is all about understanding what is happening. Noah didn’t force the solution; he patiently waited and trusted in these messengers.

Sometimes it takes courage to say, “I’m not ready yet.”

Maybe this is where you are now. The storm has passed, and the floodwaters are receding, but today is not the day to throw the door wide open. You’re not ready for normal just yet. Today is the day for the window. A time for small tests and reorienting yourself in life. This is wisdom.

God took His time. Read the verses carefully. God first sent a wind; the springs of the deep closed; the rain stopped; all the while the waters receded; after 150 days, the ark rested on one of the mountains; 73 days later, the tops of the mountains could be seen. Let’s read the verses:-

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.” (Genesis 8 v 1-5)

God took His time. Inside the ark, Noah’s faith was being tested. God had shut him into the ark, and Noah trusted that, at some point, God would open the door again.

Silence does not equal absence of presence.

Maybe this is where you are right now in the waiting.

God has a diary of events. He operates with precision. The 17^th day of the 7^th month seems planned to me.

Whatever you are waiting for right now is in His diary.

The moment will come: the wind of God —the Spirit —will move into your situation, and the landscape will change.

Your waiting will not have been wasted. The waters will recede. Things will get better. The mountains will appear again. For the God who remembers Noah will also not forget you.

Last night, I received a phone call from a friend telling me that a relative had received some bad medical news. Thankfully, they know that God is in control, and though the path is not easy, they are assured that they don’t face the future alone.

Today, you might have similar news. You may face difficulties ahead. In a few simple words here that you will read, you will be greatly encouraged because God never forgets you.

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” (Genesis 8:1)

 “But God remembered Noah …”  When?

 After 150 days of the waters flooding the earth, the waters prevailed and took over the world.

 150 days of no change to the outside circumstances of life.

 150 days of increased disturbance within (presumably a little uncomfortable living with wild animals and livestock!).

 150 days of having to trust.

 150 days of silence from God.

 150 days of not being in control.

 We all go through such seasons of the soul.

 But God will remember you and act on your behalf. He will speak and move towards you.

“Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” (Genesis 7 v 21-24)

Perished. Died. Wiped out. Wiped from the earth.

Every living thing. All. Everything. Every living thing.

The writer of the account repeats, perhaps finds a new word, but reiterates the point. If you can imagine the totality of the destruction, then you have got the point he is trying to make.

I have often found myself trying to describe what it is like in the aftermath of devastation, e.g., a famine or a hurricane. But this was on a completely different scale. This is universal.

This is not a nice story. The repetition slows us down to a pause, and that is the intention. Think about the loss to humankind and the animal kingdom. Remember the pandemic when the skies seemed quiet?

For 150 days, Noah and his family floated not knowing for how long or what would happen next. ,

We don’t like this story, do we? We try to sanitise it, gloss over this part. God is judging, destroying, and some will say they can’t believe in a God who would do this. Those who haven’t seen the travesty of sin and that persistent evil have consequences. Yet within it there is hope and mercy: “Only Noah was left …”

We don’t like consequences, do we?

But look at those nations in the world, those tribes who become so toxic and evil that they end up destroying themselves.

What will happen to Gaza? Northern Nigeria? There are so many places. Of course, even in your own life, there can be disasters that you face. I spoke with a family yesterday in mourning, ask them, and they will tell you their whole world has ended. What happens when the flood comes for you? How will you face life afterwards? Are you just going to be angry with God? Are you just going to think He is punishing me? Or will you see a remnant? That God preserves. There is hope. Noah is left. God will find a way for you to commence again.

Finally, we can notice that even in judgment, God preserved. The ark is as much a part of this story as the flood. God didn’t give up on creation entirely. He started again, with hope that this time humans might choose differently.

Where were Noah and his family and the entire remnant of the animal kingdom? 

“For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased, they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.” (Genesis 7:17-20)

The high mountains were covered. Above the high mountains of the earth was not only the flood water, but the ark and everyone in it.

In the ark, floating on the surface of the water, above the high mountains, that’s where Noah was.

This was a return to the moment before the creation when the Spirit hovered over the waters. 

But it speaks so much more.

The flood was not the enemy of Noah. Yes, it took courage and faith. But the flood lifted Noah and his family high above everything the world called secure and immovable, the mountains.

Let that thought fall on you. 

Whatever is your enemy now can be the servant of your life.

You know the feeling of rising waters. Today, you may wake to a flood of crises. Grief can overwhelm you. How will you survive?

The answer is the ark. The ark is the symbol of salvation that we know is found in Christ. That which threatens to destroy you is, in fact, what lifts you higher. 

Sometimes you can’t sail away; even if you knew where you wanted to go, you couldn’t get there because you are not able to steer yourself there. All you can do is float. 

There is a faith that builds a boat and a faith that endures when you are in unfamiliar territory. You may not avoid the flood, but you can float through that season.

Sometimes simply being in the ark is the best place to be. All around you is chaos, but your salvation is the calm within the storm. 

Float today, even though the winds buffet against you. You’re safe in the ark.

Recently, in Kenya, I opened a borehole. Water is a much-needed commodity, and on the first day of testing, when the water was gushing out at thousands of litres per hour, an unusual phenomenon occurred: a whole variety of animals and birds gathered to drink from the pipe. They weren’t taken there; they went there of their own volition. It is like they just knew. I tell you that for a reason.

“Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.” (Genesis 7 v 6-16)

There are a few things to note here. I will embolden them.

The animals and birds came to Noah. He didn’t hunt for them to capture them and drag them into the ark. They came. I’m reminded of the borehole in Kenya. Except this is so much different – they were already paired up as if done so supernaturally. This is a miracle all in itself. How does this happen? God makes a way. That’s it. Maybe you are wondering how it will happen for you? God makes a way.

If that point alone isn’t a stand-alone encouragement, there is more.

If the ark represents our salvation in Christ—which it does—then we have this superb detail in v16: “The Lord shut him in.”

Noah never shut himself in. He didn’t close the door. God did. It is God who saves. It is all of Him.

Inside, they are in between worlds. The old world is ending. The new one hasn’t yet emerged. Do you know that feeling? In between the 2 seasons. You are leaving and cleaving. It is a journey of courage. Will this boat sink? God begins to bring judgment as the springs burst open and the rain falls from the sky. Inside the ark, there is mercy, and outside the ark, there is judgment. However, His intention is not to commence again; it is not to start a new creation. No. God is a God of hope. There is a remnant to begin with. He made provision within the judgment. This tells me that even on the worst day, there is hope.

God will make a way for you.

God saves you.

God is the hope for you.

Encouraged?

There are so many I know who are waking to another day of difficulty. Are you overwhelmed by looming threats? Are you facing what you can only describe as a flood? In the darkness of this anxious time, God still speaks. God still has a plan. The fact that you are walking with Him means God still has a future for you.

“The LORD then said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now, I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.’ And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.” (Genesis 7: 1-5)

Noah was 500 years old (5:32) when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He was 600 years old when the floodwaters came (7:6), and because his son’s wives also entered the ark, we can presume something around a 50-100-year period that Noah was involved in building this massive spectacle of an ark. Can you imagine spending what must have been between 50 and 100 years building something you had never seen (the ark) to experience something that had never happened before (the rain)?

If that is not the example of obedience, then what is?

Well, maybe there are similar, smaller perhaps, but still powerful examples of obedience all around us.

I remember as a Pastor getting tired of hearing people tell me, “Pastor, I am believing for a testimony, it isn’t ready yet, I am just waiting for my healing, then I will tell the church on Sunday what God has done for me.” I decided that wasn’t helping my church grow in discipleship. So from that moment, I didn’t wait for the healing or the breakthrough to happen. I had people come to the front of the church to give their stories of having cancer but holding on to God, of going through redundancy but waiting on God, broken, unsolved stories of ordinary people walking with faith and obedience despite their world collapsing.

Noah stood alone in his generation, as we read in the last chapter; it was evil at its core, and he remained obedient to what God had called him to do. It is possible to hold on to God even when no one else is.

Maybe …

Taking a lower salary because the job aligns more with your gifting and values; staying in a difficult marriage when your best friend advises you to leave; adopting a child when you should be having more for yourself; starting that project that no one understands; forgiving someone who won’t care if you do or don’t; giving when you would rather be spending; maybe, just maybe this story is actually closer to your experience than you first realised.

There are times when you stand alone because you are trying to be obedient to God. You keep hammering the nails into the wood, even when people mock you, even when you cannot see one rain cloud.

After decades of your life carrying this attitude, you then hear God saying ‘Go’ or maybe the door opens, something shifts in your experience, a chapter turns, and you realise that the lonely walk of obedience has been worth it.

God gave Noah a week’s notice of the rain.

We can find ourselves in such an imminent time. It’s not today. But the moment you have been waiting for is soon. So, in this late hour, what do you need to do? Who do you need to speak to? Noah had time to warn the community around him one more time. He was ready now, but the final instructions were to gather seven pairs of every animal and bird.

If you had seven days, what would you do with them? The 50-100 years have gone by—a lifetime of walking with God. One week is left.

We are in the last days. Live right. Make good decisions. Do everything you can. The future is at stake. God has a plan and it is coming to pass.