...Let it rain!

The story of Noah has always bothered me. I remember singing songs about it, hearing the stories, coloring the Ark pages as a kid.
The Lord said to Noah you're gonna build an arky, arky
The Lord said to Noah you're gonna build an arky, arky,
Build it out of gopher barky barky
Children of the Lord

God rescued Noah and his family (along with all of those animals.)but I've always wondered about the others. You know, the ones who made fun of Noah during those 100 years of building and even the other 500 years of his faithful living. (here's someone who truly experienced religious persecution.) Then many of those changed their tune when the rain didn't quit for a couple of weeks. The ones who knocked at the door of the ark, the ones who ran to higher ground as the flood waters came up, the ones who looked into the heavens and asked, "what have we done?"

But the story isn't about them exactly. It's not forgetting about them, nor is it dwelling on them. The story is about the faithful ones on earth and the faithful One, who will go to the ends of the earth to judge unrighteousness in a way that is fair to the righteous and consistent with the nature of God. The story is for the faithful as a story of hope and encouragement, that even when the rains of life come and people are overwhelmed around us, God will rescue his own.

I've learned much over the years about God and this story. It didn't end in the way I would have directed it, but then again I'm not God. It's a reminder that God looks carefully at the condition of the world. He's paying attention! And that right living is the key to living a long, rich life, here on earth and for an eternity. The Noah story is about God's promise to the faithful, then, now, future.

It's not just the rainbow, that God will never again destroy the earth by flood. It's the whole promise that God is actively working, protecting, helping, rescuing us in our situations. Remember, while Noah was rescued by God, he still had to build the ark, gather the animals, and live on a stinky boat for a year to receive God's gift! And then when it was all over, had to rebuild everything, from the earth's population to the very houses they would live in.

God's blessings seem to take a whole lot of work and time!

But they are ours for the grasping if we live rightly with God. And if we live rightly...


...let it rain!

Peace ><>
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