“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts . . . .”
Have you ever remembered something you were supposed to do about ten minutes after you were supposed to do it? I want you to know that was NOT the situation with Noah, the Ark, and God. God did not flood the earth, sit back, take a snooze and then wake up with an I-should-have-had-a-V8 slap to the forehead, saying, “NOAH! I forgot!” When the text of Genesis 8:1 says that God remembered Noah it means that Noah was very much on God’s mind through the whole ordeal of the flood. God remembered Noah in faithfulness and took care of him throughout the year-or-so that they bobbed on the waves, and then when they settled in the mud, just as He had been the whole time Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth built the Ark.
Sometimes we think that God forgets us. When life is hard; the kids are sick, the bills are due and there is too much month and the end of the paycheck we wonder if God has forgotten. When we try to do the right thing and our motivations are questioned, our name gets slandered, or we get smacked down because of it we wonder if God has forgotten. In fact, as we watch the news and see the immorality and injustice it’s pretty tempting to think God has forgotten us.
But He hasn’t.
God is at work in our world. He knows that the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and that people have a disturbing propensity to forget Him, deny Him, and explain away His miracles in a myriad of ways, but He has never forgotten us, nor has His love for us diminished.
God displayed his love for Noah and his family by saving them and taking care of them throughout the flood. But notice that he also used Noah to build the Ark and gather the food and get the animals on board.
God has not forgotten us or this world we live in and He is still at work in and through us.
God is at work when we gather to worship Him, and He gives us forgiveness and strengthens our faith through His Word and Sacraments. God is at work when we go to work and live as His people. God is at work when we tell someone about the cross and empty tomb. God is at work when we feed the hungry, care for hurting and help “the least of these,” and He uses that care as an opportunity to show His love to these people. God is at work whenever His people follow Him, depend on Him, and share the hope we have in Him with others.
Our generation is not that different from Noah’s in a lot of ways. In the midst of this world we hold out a message of His judgment on sin, but we do it in the shadow of the cross, God’s great intervention and salvation. Sin has once-and-for-all been punished as Jesus died on the cross for all people. Now today, by faith we see that God is still at work in our world using you and me to bear the message of the cross, God’s love, and His forgiveness for and to all people.
Father, sometimes I wonder if You’ve forgotten us. Help me to remember that You are faithful. Amen.
Have you ever remembered something you were supposed to do about ten minutes after you were supposed to do it? I want you to know that was NOT the situation with Noah, the Ark, and God. God did not flood the earth, sit back, take a snooze and then wake up with an I-should-have-had-a-V8 slap to the forehead, saying, “NOAH! I forgot!” When the text of Genesis 8:1 says that God remembered Noah it means that Noah was very much on God’s mind through the whole ordeal of the flood. God remembered Noah in faithfulness and took care of him throughout the year-or-so that they bobbed on the waves, and then when they settled in the mud, just as He had been the whole time Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth built the Ark.
Sometimes we think that God forgets us. When life is hard; the kids are sick, the bills are due and there is too much month and the end of the paycheck we wonder if God has forgotten. When we try to do the right thing and our motivations are questioned, our name gets slandered, or we get smacked down because of it we wonder if God has forgotten. In fact, as we watch the news and see the immorality and injustice it’s pretty tempting to think God has forgotten us.
But He hasn’t.
God is at work in our world. He knows that the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and that people have a disturbing propensity to forget Him, deny Him, and explain away His miracles in a myriad of ways, but He has never forgotten us, nor has His love for us diminished.
God displayed his love for Noah and his family by saving them and taking care of them throughout the flood. But notice that he also used Noah to build the Ark and gather the food and get the animals on board.
God has not forgotten us or this world we live in and He is still at work in and through us.
God is at work when we gather to worship Him, and He gives us forgiveness and strengthens our faith through His Word and Sacraments. God is at work when we go to work and live as His people. God is at work when we tell someone about the cross and empty tomb. God is at work when we feed the hungry, care for hurting and help “the least of these,” and He uses that care as an opportunity to show His love to these people. God is at work whenever His people follow Him, depend on Him, and share the hope we have in Him with others.
Our generation is not that different from Noah’s in a lot of ways. In the midst of this world we hold out a message of His judgment on sin, but we do it in the shadow of the cross, God’s great intervention and salvation. Sin has once-and-for-all been punished as Jesus died on the cross for all people. Now today, by faith we see that God is still at work in our world using you and me to bear the message of the cross, God’s love, and His forgiveness for and to all people.
Father, sometimes I wonder if You’ve forgotten us. Help me to remember that You are faithful. Amen.
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