Missions Paul

Maya Angelou’s voice (1928-2014), captured on Coldplay’s album, Moon Music, carries ancient wisdom in her gentle voice. An African American spiritual singer who speaks of rainbows appearing when “it looked like the sun wasn’t gonna’ shine anymore. God put a rainbow in the clouds.” Her words trail off with wonder: “And I’ve had so many rainbows in my clouds. I had a lot of clouds, but I have had so many rainbows.” God is still putting rainbows in the skies.

Has the sun stopped shining on you today? Is that how you describe what has happened to you? Well, wait … it may mark the most significant event of your life. There is a rainbow in the clouds for you.

This could be the start of a new PROMISE from your God.

If God has allowed darkness to settle over your life today, He is orchestrating something seismic. Wait for Him. His work remains unfinished. Your rainbow is forming in the clouds.

“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” ¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” (Genesis 9 v 12-17)

God could have said, “If man does it again, then they know what is coming again!” But he didn’t. Instead, He painted a rainbow and made a covenant. He chose something that needs both a storm and the sun as a reminder. There are days when we get both, don’t we?

Today, you may wake to your storm clouds gathering; grief and loss are here, and you wonder if you will survive. God has promised you that neither circumstances nor your own behaviour will cause His mercy to protect you. No. But His covenant does.

God keeps His promises.

Remember the rainbow.

What did the Apostle John see on the island of Patmos in his vision (Revelation 4:3)? Trapped on the island, desiring to be free, living at a time of massive oppression from evil Emperors. He sees a rainbow and He remembers the covenant-keeping God.

Between Genesis 9 and Revelation 4 stands another covenant. It is like the rainbow; it has nothing to do with our behaviour or commitment; His grace entirely holds it. It is the new covenant in Christ’s blood; it is the cross.

Your ‘world’ today may not be what you want it to be. You may feel uncertain and wish you were somewhere completely different. You may deserve judgment. You may have experienced floods of anxiety and uncertainty. Look up. There is a covenant in the skies. Don’t marvel at the colours, but at the character of God revealed. He is faithful to His promises. God remembers. If the clouds gather over you today, remember in Him you will not go under, and even if you do, He will raise you.

The flood has ended. The ground is dry. The altar has been built and lit, and God begins to make promises to Noah and to us. It’s a new beginning. God uses the exact words that He used to Adam; you will recognize them right away. God, in effect, was saying, ‘Let’s try this again.’

But of course, everything has changed. Sin has entered the world, and we are aware of it. Violence surrounds us, and fear fights for our hearts. How can we endure? We do so with a covenant-keeping God who promises, ‘I won’t do that again.’ God offers grace and mercy to the world, allowing us to start anew. Today, we can pray the start-again prayer.

“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ² 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. ³ Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. ⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. ⁵ 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. ⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. ⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” ⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9 v 1-11)

 God can start again with you.

 He did it with Noah.

 God will start again with you.

 These are five prayers we can pray today:

 “Start again with me, God: Give me a reason to live” (God said: be fruitful, increase, fill the earth, multiply)

 “Start again with me, God: Provide for my life” (God said: I give you everything, not just the green plants)

 “Start again with me, God: Fashion me into your image (God said: in the image of God has God made man)

 “Start again with me, God: Align me with your ways (God said: But you must not …)

 “Start again with me, God: I choose to live under your covenant over my life sealed with Christ’s blood (God said: I make a covenant)

 Some seasons we mess up, but that season can have a new beginning.

 Start again, God, start with me.

What was the first thing Noah did when he stepped off the ark?

What did Noah do with some of the animals he had saved in the ark?

“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. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even thoughevery 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 v 20-22)

The very first thing he did was build an altar. The door opens, and they have survived the catastrophe; everyone is released. They walk around, observing the biggest reset moment the world has ever known. It is right then, at that very moment, that Noah begins knocking nails into wood again, maybe from the ark that saved them. He builds an altar and places some animals that are clean for eating and sacrifices them—proof that he does not own them. Everything belongs to God.

This was more than just a prayer. This was more than a song. It required more effort from Noah. It took more time. This was and is worship.

This wasn’t just any religious ritual he recognized; it was genuine gratitude. He understood his survival was thanks to God. It shows the heart behind this man.

We all enjoy the smell of a bonfire or, even better, a BBQ aroma. It seems God does too. However, Moses, in writing this account, doesn’t mean to suggest that God has nostrils or other physical features. Instead, he is trying to show that God was pleased with the attitude behind the altar. Putting God first, acknowledging Him before anything else—what we call worship—paved the way for God to make a promise that this worldwide disaster would never happen again.

Noah might have had many reasons not to do this. They needed every animal for the world’s largest breeding program. It was costly for Noah.

Worship always does.

Worship consistently puts God first.

Worship always points to who the Saviour really is. It says, ‘this is not because of me, it is Him’.

Worship always dedicates the start of a new season.

Worship is not a monologue but a dialogue. Noah was speaking to God through the altar, and God responded.

Worship is a place of Divine exchange.

The invitation to build an altar is still there.

Before you start your day with all of its activities and you meet with God in prayer; your decision to give generously even when it means you have to sacrifice what you were going to buy for yourself; the decision to volunteer to help when all you want to do is have time for yourself; it is intentional; it takes effort; you are building an altar; worship.

The invitation is now: worship.

Worship says, ‘This is Yours, God.’

The response is still grace, in that God commits to loving us even though He knows we will sin. His response is still mercy: in every seasonal change —when the leaves fall to the ground, when the winter cold comes, when the spring of new life emerges, and when the glorious heat of summer descends —this is God, the faithful God who has not and will not abandon us.

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.