Genesis 8:1 “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.”
It was January in Michigan, cold, dark, and stormy. As a young foreigner, I felt the weather matched my disposition. I was a young mother of two, the youngest a mere infant, an infant who recently diagnosed with asthma, should not go outside.
New to Michigan and its brutal winters, I had no friends, no family, and little hope. I felt shut in and alone. My job was to simply care for my two young charges. Keep them fed and warm, and care for their physical and emotional health.
Noah knew what it was like to feel shut in. He had obeyed God’s instructions and had built the ark. He had gathered all the animals, two by two. He had done all the right things. Genesis 7:16b tells us “Then the Lord shut him in.”
The storm raged on the outside but Noah was safe in the ark. How terrifying it must have been to hear the storm raging relentlessly. Hear the screams of people fighting for their lives, and how eerie the silence when those lives surrendered to death and then those storms stopped.
In the wait, Noah tended the animals, feeding them and caring for them. He had no idea how long the time would last inside the ark. He only knew he needed to keep tending the animals until he was told otherwise. He listened to and obeyed God.
Genesis 7: 24 tells us that the waters flooded the earth for one hundred fifty days. That’s a very long time to be enclosed with so many animals. The days filled with hard labor produced weary muscles and exhaustion every night. The stench from living in such close proximity must have overpowered him. How claustrophobic it must have felt, confined inside the same four wooden walls. The desire for a little sunshine, at times, overwhelming!
With all that transpired outside the ark, how easy it would be to feel forgotten. Yet Genesis 8:1a reads, “But God remembered Noah.” Even while creating a new face on the earth’s surface, God remembered the man, and the creatures he’d tucked safely away until the storms cleared.
The arduous Michigan winter eventually ended; and after I drank in a beauteous spring. After months of protecting my young children indoors, together we enjoyed the bright blossoms of plants proclaiming the promise that God is good.
He does remember us, when we feel shut in, with nowhere to go. He does remember us when we are stuck in a “holding pattern,” waiting for a sign we should venture out. And while we are shut in, He is there with us, every moment, providing for our needs. Even the emotional needs. Even the need for a friend, a confidante. Even someone to share the load with us.
I used the long winter nights after I’d tucked those tots into bed. I read and learned more about God. Noah used his time in the ark to obey the Lord and His instructions. We both drew closer to God and built faith throughout the times of being shut in.
I bet we can all relate quite a bit to Noah right now. Some are stuck in quarantine, others find little freedom when all activities must be considered in the light of safety guidelines.
How easy to feel stifled, shut in and forgotten! Yet God has plan for even such a time as this. Maybe the lack of going here and there is to be used to “Be still, and know He is God.” Psalm 46:10 Maybe it’s to be used as a quiet time of reflection, a time to read and study His Word, a time to draw near to Him.
He promises to never leave us, to never forsake us; that we are indeed held right in the palm of His hand.
Noah was okay in the ark. It may not have been his first choice of how to spend months at a clip, but God tucked Him away and cared for him there.
I didn’t particularly love that first Michigan winter, but I made the best of it and as I look back, I realize how I grew in my faith.
Today we face a choice: do I use whatever circumstances I find myself in as an opportunity to draw closer to God, even though I myself would never author this? Or will I choose to grumble and complain, missing out on what God wants to teach me in this season?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, How easy it can be to recall the story of Noah and romanticize his experience in the ark. How easy to think ‘no one knows how hard things can be.’ You know, O Lord, and You love each of us. You see us and have not forgotten us. And You never will. Please help me to remember that as I face periods when I feel shut in. Thank You for Your promises that You will never again flood the entire earth, and that You will always supply all my needs. Amen.