Author's Note: Once again, this is still a rough draft and work-in-progress
Sometimes we're asked to go through the flood. Trouble or sorrow pours from the sky. I think sometimes its natural for us to wonder if our troubles are a punishment for our actions, even if there is no obvious wrong-doing we can pin-point. Job asked God to reveal any sin that he had committed to deserve his sufferings even though his end conclusion was that he had not sinned. (He asked 'why', what the reason was for his suffering.) But Noah wasn't being punished. His struggle in going through the flood was actually an indication of God's approval of him. He did follow God, He did serve Him faithfully in a world full of perversion and sin. Noah's reward for faithful service was a safe haven through the storm (which he had to work to build I might add). He wasn't spared the flood by any means, and a very heavy responsibility was laid of him (the preservation of all human and animal life). But Noah, unlike the rest of the world around him, survived. Noah, despite every rain-drop and pitch of the sea, was the one man used to continue God's plan.
Unlike Noah, we are rarely given a set date when the rains would stop, nor always a warning before-hand, though maybe there are signs that we do not see or recognize.
Riding out the storm, being kept afloat.
Noah kept sending out hope for life. Over and over again he sent out the bird, until FINALLY... a living branch came back.
I would like to believe that in my current flood God is promising me too that He will never put my world through this kind of (financial) devastation, but the truth is, I probably will not know that in so clear a way. -- Even after the flood had passed, I'm sure it wasn't easy trying to rebuild the world. In fact, in Noah's case, there is clear evidence that it wasn't. Even after the rainbow of promise. But, life did go on, the world was rebuilt, and Noah's descendants marked a new beginning not only for his family but for God's restoration plan.
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