Our reading this year has taken us as far as the flood. In Genesis chapter 8, Noah and his family and the animals are safe in the ark, but perhaps they were wondering, “What now?”. They had survived the flood, but what was the next step? Surely they were fed up with the smells, the sounds, and being cooped up in an ark with no dry land in sight.They had faithfully obeyed God, built the ark, brought in the animals – and had been saved. What now?
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. (Genesis 8:1)
I love this first phrase – “God remembered Noah”. In the Hebrew, the word “remember” is a bit different than what we think of in English. Remember (zacar) in Hebrew means more than “bring to mind.” God was not saying, “I remember Noah – I wonder how he’s getting on?” The word “remember” in Hebrew includes more of the action – God remembered, but then He acted. He sent a wind, and, as we see in the next chapter, He entered into covenant with Noah, and saved him not only from the flood, but from judgment. He acted to save, just as He did on other occasions when God remembers – with Abraham, with Moses, with the people of Israel in bondage, and others.
Dear brother or sister, are you in the middle of the storm? Do you wonder what is next? Are you unsure if God is aware of your predicament? Do you question whether He cares? Those who are part of God’s family, who repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for their salvation, can be sure that God “remembers” them, in the Hebrew sense. He did not leave us in our predicament, but has already acted on our behalf – powerfully, finally, and effectively; when He sent His own Son to die for us and save us. He promised through His covenant, and He fulfilled that promise.
If you have not trusted Christ, but instead are trying to make it on your own, would you consider turning from your sin, and turning to Him now? Join His family, and be saved from the worst trial or predicament you can imagine – the judgment of God. If you do that, you can be sure that God has forgiven your sins, and adopted you into His family. There can be no better way to start the New Year.
What does that mean for your storm? What about the trial you are going through now? Although I cannot predict how it will come out, be assured that you are not alone. God remembers you – wait and see how He acts on your behalf.
Romans 5:1-8 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This devotional Thought was written by my good friend, fellow elder, fellow saint, and fellow sinner Dave Satterlee.
Unfathomable Grace 