THE STORY OF NOAH – Genesis 7:17–18, 22–24; 8:1a – The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. … Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.
We often imagine that God’s presence in our lives will prevent us from difficulty. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us? But the story of Noah reminds us that God’s presence and life’s dangers often coexist. God can be faithful even while we are utterly terrified. Noah’s story comes only a page or two after Adam and Eve’s, but generations have passed by this point. And the generations have not been trending the right way. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, God’s creation—which was initially full of order, goodness, and life—became consumed by disorder, injustice, and death. God responds, dramatically, by pressing “rewind,” reversing the original creation story. From giant beasts to creeping bugs to precious human lives, everything is covered in water. It is difficult for us to grasp the scope of this loss. Frankly, it should be. But for many of us, something about the flood resonates as tragically true. This world often feels like a flood we can’t control. We sense the water rising around us in the form of broken relationships, broken promises, broken bodies. At times, we are tempted to think, the world is simply like this. It is frightening and lonely and full of pain. It’s a flood. Except. The flood in Noah’s day didn’t destroy everything. Noah and his family were kept safe on the ark, proof of God’s faithfulness to them. What keeps us from reading Noah’s story with despair is a beautiful phrase: “God remembered Noah.” The flood surrounded Noah, but it did not consume him. The flood took nearly everything away from Noah, but it could not take away what mattered most—God’s presence.
And yet. God’s presence with Noah did not make the flood easy. Just imagine being on a boat, surrounded by the stench of a large zoo, pummeled by rain, for weeks on end. In no way would Noah’s journey have felt serene. Noah was kept safe. Noah was in God’s presence. And yet the flood was still tremendously hard. That’s often the way with God’s presence. We feel it most keenly in circumstances we would rather avoid. In prosperity, we become so blind that we think of God’s presence with a disinterested shrug. But in fear, in loneliness, or in suffering, God’s presence becomes a life-giving comfort. Noah needed God’s presence as much as he needed his boat. This Advent season, don’t miss the promise God offers in the birth of Jesus—his very presence in your life.
Reflect:
List three to five moments in your life when you have seen God’s faithfulness toward you, even when the experience itself was frightening. Write your answer in the space provided
