Flood Times Are Long

"Now the flood was on the earth forty days..." (Gen 7:17)

"And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days." (Gen 7:24)


I think about the times of flood in our lives and how they can seem to go on and on forever. When I thought about Noah's Ark, I knew that it rained for 40 days, but I didn't think about how long the waters stood covering the earth - 150 days. When taken all together, it becomes over 6 months time (Update - looking at the scriptures again, it is 40 days of rain, 150 days of waters, 40 days of decreased waters - the rains started on the 2nd month and they left the ark in the 10th month - ~8 months).

Can you imagine the feelings of Noah and his family? At first, they are partially relieved to see the rain as a fulfillment of God's direction in their lives. They know that God will keep them safe as the Ark begins to float along on the floodwaters. But during that time, it continues to rain and after 40 days, it stops. Flood over, right? Well, God still had more cleaning to accomplish and He continues to leave the waters on the land for another 150 days. Whoa, that's an eternity to spend on a gigantic floating zoo.

Although the Bible never really gets into it, the waiting must have been quite a grind for Noah's family. And it probably seemed to them at times as if God wouldn't ever restore land to the 'waterworld' that they found themselves in. But in everything God had a purpose and a plan.

Today, I am encouraged by this because I find myself in a type of personal flood situation. It isn't dire, and thankfully it is isolated to my family living through it, but it seems interminable sometimes - as if I'm staring daily on the railing of a ship in the middle of the ocean that isn't finding a port of call. Water everywhere, everyday.

But, God has been doing a cleaning out in my life, as well as in the life of my wife, and together we are regaining a spiritual strength that had been drained out of us. So, I can see that the Lord has His own plans in everything. They certainly are not like anything I would have imagined, but I know that they are accomplishing a good work of cleaning out the filth and grime that had been accumulating in our lives.

Maybe He isn't done yet, and that is certainly His prerogative (as is everything in my life). My hope though is that my flood won't last longer than Noah's. =p

Lord Jesus, thank you for today's encouragement out of the story of Noah. It is so easy for me to get so fixated on my own situation and how I want to change it, without really submitting myself to whatever work you're already doing in our lives. May I never negate Your work in whatever fashion it comes. Thank You for everything You have done for us, and for all that You are refining and cleaning in our family. In Jesus' name, AMEN.