June 3 – Genesis 7:17-8:1; 8:20-9:1

June 3 – Genesis 7:17-8:1; 8:20-9:1

Dear Father, we come before You in praise and with thanksgiving for You give us our,

‘But God’ moments. You orchestrate our lives for Your glory. May we in our quiet time recognize You for who You are: our Lord God, the God of Israel.

First, do your own quiet time and 4R journaling.  When you are completed, come back here for the lesson.

Request God’s help

Read Genesis 7:17-8:1; 8:20-9:1

Record a verse that stands out to you

Respond to God

But God remembers

What came before the “But God”?  God was angry and wished He never created humans, so angry that He blotted them out in the flood.  Not only did it wipe out humanity, but did so with a flood that changed the topography of the earth.  Yet even in His great anger He could not forget Noah, for that would be contrary to who He is.  He made a promise, thus He will keep that promise.

In those long days of sailing, did they know how long it would be?  Did they have consistent check ins from God? Or was it quiet?  Did doubt start to creep in?  Did Noah and his family start to wonder if He’d forgotten?  Hard to think that faithful Noah would do so, but even the strongest humans are still human.  Have you been in moments like that?  You know God is faithful, but had He just this once forgotten you?

What came before the “But God” was destruction and what come after was repair. Whatever God does, He never leaves us without mercy.  Whatever He does, He always leaves a remnant.  Whatever He does, He never leaves us without a way to salvation. Take note of what God Himself did.  He Himself shut the door of the Ark, so how could He forget who He closed in?  He Himself made the wind blow and the waters subside. He Himself was in total control of it all.  How could He ever possibly forget?

Noah knew generally when the start of the flood was happening, but he had no idea the end.  And isn’t that just like God, to give us part of the timeline, but not the whole thing.  Because, really, do we need to know? Nope, ‘cause God’s got it.  And what did Noah do at the end of the flood?  He praised God!  This story is such a road map to our faith walk.  God calls, we answer.  God directs, we go. The Spirit baptizes, we are born again. God remembers us, we praise Him.  That’s what we do!  When you are given a ‘But God’ moment, the only response is to praise Him!

But God!

We are not forgotten, not even for a moment.  If it were anything but, then God would be a liar.  And we know full well and with certainty that He is not that!  And He won’t forget you, either. In your waiting, in your unknown, God is there working and He does in fact  know.

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forever more.”  Psalm 125:2

(Further Reading: Genesis 19:29; 30:22; Exodus 2:24)

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You for You alone are in control. We thank You for

Your mercy and Your grace covering on our lives.  May we walk confident that we are  remembered.

What’s next?

As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.  Then join us again tomorrow for the next commentary.

My Verse: Genesis 8.1, “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.  And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.”