September 16, 2009

Noah, the Flood, and You

2009 1526 page22 cape met at the market in the aisle by the frozen foods and exchanged friendly greetings. Alice, recently widowed, leaned on her shopping cart. I knew her from church as a happy, outgoing person, but now she looked distressed.

 
“Your husband has been dead longer than mine,” she stated. “Tell me, how long does it take before you get over it?”
 
I knew my answer would disappoint her. “When I get over it,” I said, “I’ll let you know.”
 
Alice, like many others, thinks of a personal loss as an event, something that happens and then you get over it, like the flu. It usually doesn’t work that way. The good news is, although a crisis may overwhelm you like a flood, you don’t have to sail the sea of disaster endlessly. The waters do recede. You can start again.
 
Ask Noah. He’s the expert on surviving a flood. It matters not the kind of troubling situation one may face. We all can learn much from his experience. I gleaned seven coping strategies from Noah, useful in the storms of life.
 
2009 1526 page221. Trust God to lead you.
When God told Noah to build an ark, he had 120 years to prepare for the calamity that was to come upon the earth. Most of us don’t have that kind of time. Noah, the patient patriarch, had an essential quality going for him. He trusted God’s leading.
 
If we appreciate God’s care for us in good times, we must believe He’s with us in hard times. He never changes. We do.
 
2. Trust God to protect you.
When the Lord closed up the ark, it signaled the point of no return for everyone on both sides of the door. While those outside were oblivious to the imminent danger, God’s providence kept Noah and company safe inside the vessel.
 
What God did to protect His people then, He still does today. We may not be able to go back and wash away a problem that has capsized our life, but God can keep us afloat in the midst of it.
 
3. Trust God and keep busy.
When the world wasn’t looking, the rains came. Nobody on board the ark thought this was a vacation cruise, though it beat the alternative. They still had to ride out the storm.
 
While Mrs. Noah and her daughters-in-law might be whipping up veggie lasagna in the unstable galley, Mr. Noah and his sons concentrated on feeding their menagerie. Being cooped up with all those animals was not like a trip to the zoo. The little company on board had their work cut out for them. Keeping busy helped them concentrate more on their immediate needs and less on their ordeal.
 
So it is with us. Whether our personal trial means coping with health problems, job loss, death, divorce, or any adversity that may occur in our lives, we still need to ride out the storm. The world doesn’t stop while we are in crisis. We need to tend to the business of living while dealing with difficult details. It takes determination to stay focused.
 
4. Trust God and praise Him.
Noah, concentrating on the task of supervising his privileged company, one day stopped to listen to a strange sound—the sound of silence. The rain had ceased. Their unique voyage had reached a turning point. The weary family must have reviewed all they had experienced and rejoiced at how far they had come. The ark that served as both a refuge and a prison would, in the near future, release its inhabitants. God had not forgotten them.
 
In the midst of a problem, while going through the motions of endless tasks each day, there comes a moment when we stop and realize how far we’ve come. We find a turning point in our turbulent voyage. God has been with us all along.
 
5. Trust God while waiting.
Although cessation of rain brought relief, Noah’s weary family still had to deal with all the accumulated water. There would be no immediate respite from the chores that now became routine. Nobody had to ask, “What are we going to do tomorrow?” They already knew. Meanwhile, God is behind the scene working His perfect plan. Ever so quietly, almost imperceptibly, the water level begins to drop.
 
When tears that fell so freely begin to cease, we still have to face the flood of memories we’ve amassed and unfinished business to complete. When energy is drained and spirits are low, it’s vital to understand that God doesn’t take vacations. He is working for you and wants to work with you, if you’ll let Him. He may not be visible, but He’s reliable. Little by little, often unnoticed, obstacles are being removed, challenges are met, and small victories begin to surface.
 
6. Trust God for courage.
After many months of waiting, Noah’s unique odyssey finally ended. The time had come for the patriarch and his family to take a giant step of faith from the ark of safety into a very different world. The first thing Noah did when he landed on solid ground was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to the Lord. And God blessed him. The time to start over had begun.
 
No matter how much we want to postpone the inevitable, there comes a time when one must leave the security of the ark of procrastination and start anew. Trusting in God will put you on solid ground. Your effort to start over can be your sacrifice to the Lord. As God blessed Noah, He will bless you.
 
7. Trust God with your future.
When once again on dry land, if Noah had doubts of any kind—especially on rainy days—all he had to do was look up. The rainbow of promise, a token of God’s love, brought instant recall of the covenant between God and the whole earth.
 
Every beginning has an ending, and every ending has a beginning. The soon coming of Jesus will mean both the end of this life and the beginning of a better one in heaven.
 
Then starting over again will bring inexpressible, uncontainable joy.
 
________
Marcia Mollenkopf, a retired teacher, writes from Klamath Falls, Oregon. 


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