However Long It Takes

Scripture – Genesis 8:1-5: 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.

Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture.) It was the seventeenth day of the second month (last Monday’s reading) when the flooding began. It was the seventh month when the ark became snagged in the mountains. And it wasn’t until the tenth month when even the tops of the mountains became visible.

Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read.) God remembered Noah. Sometimes it seems like God forgets. The floodwaters come, and I keep sailing along (on my good days). Sometimes I wonder if it will ever end. I wonder what worship was like on the ark. Did God and Noah keep up a conversation? Did Noah pray for an end to the flooding? Or did he just patiently trust God to take care of him? I will live worry free today. God is providing. I will live as though all I need is already here. I will not worry about the future.

Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer.) Lord, you will take care of me today. I know that. Forgive me for not living in that assurance. Remind me that the future is in your hands. Storms come and go. But even if one comes and never goes, I will praise you and thank you. For you are the Lord. My hope is in you all day long.