“Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”
Genesis 8:1
Sitting on the floor of his cell, he buries his head in his hands. He tries to make sense of the events that lead him to this prison. His jealous brothers plotted to kill him, in their mercy they threw him down an empty cistern, later to be sold as a slave to a passing caravan. Just when things seem to be getting better, everything gets horribly worse. He is falsely accused of trying to rape his boss’ wife.
Life for Joseph wasn’t easy. I’m sure at some point or another he might have thought, “Where is God?” “Has He forgotten me?” Although God used all these events to prepare Joseph for the salvation of the worldwide famine, in the darkness of the moment he must have thought God didn’t remember he was rotting away in prison…the baker and cup-bearer didn’t, that’s for sure.
Sometimes God allows us to go through long difficult times. I’m sure after 40 days and nights of rain Noah began to wonder if God had forgotten His promise of grace and hope. We might look at these great men of the faith and think they just cruised through their situations, the fact is they were human just like you and I. I’m sure they wrestled with their thoughts and emotions as well. The truth is they didn’t have chapter after chapter of the Bible to tell them the story was going to end well, or everything was going to be okay. They were blazing the trail of faith for you and I. They were learning to listen to God, and respond in faith in the midst of their circumstance, just like us. Noah was in a poorly lit zoo for over a month without any word from God. He didn’t hear a peep…not a word…no sunshine…no potpourri…smelly animals…no encouragement…he had one window to look through, and the view was cloudy.
The scripture here tells us God “remembered” Noah. During times of extended suffering sometimes our faith wanes, we grow weary in the waiting, and we’re tempted to believe God has forgotten. This scripture lets us in on the truth…God remembered Noah…and the waters subsided. In the quiet moments never doubt that God is working, when it seems as though God has forgotten, it may likely be that the flood of suffering is beginning to reside.
If you find yourself today wondering, “Why is God silent?” “Why am I still in this situation?” “Why am I floating around and not moving forward?”…remember Noah’s story. In the quiet moments, God remembers, and is working.
