The story of Noah’s Ark is oft told in the Sunday school classroom, but rarely revisited after that, save the occasional obligatory glance while attempting to read the Bible cover-to-cover (am I alone in that?). But while reading up for our team’s weekly Bible study on Genesis, the Lord showed me some things in the story that had never sunk in before.
When I read this, three phrases stood out to me:
1. While still in the ark, Noah saw that the waters had subsided and the earth was dry. But he waited on the Lord.
2. Noah listened to God’s command to come out of the ark.
3. Noah left the ark, only after hearing God to tell him to move.
I think it is a reasonable to assume that Noah knew that the Lord would call him out of the ark when he saw that the ground was dry. Noah knew the Lord’s heart, and he knew that the Lord would not want him to live out the rest of his days cooped up in a boat filled with a year’s supply of manure but rather basking in his reviving creation. Nevertheless, Noah waited. It wasn’t until the Lord told him to come out of the ark that Noah lowered the door that had been protecting him during the torrential rains and stepped into the sunlight.
With four months left on the World Race, I am waiting in my own sort of ark. The Lord has me on the Race right now, but He has already given me dreams and visions of what I will do when I return back to the States in April. I have seen what He eventually wants for my life in the future. But I must wait. I must wait for Him to reveal His timing. Until He tells me when to act, I am working in the ark. I have plenty of work to do here- children to play with, people to pray for, and relationships to be built.
This month in Manila, Philippines, I will ironically be working with animals like Noah. I have been dying to get my hands on some small business (micro enterprise) type of work, and have been presented with an opportunity to establish a chicken-raising project for some neighbors in our community. At first I was incredibly hesitant because of my complete lack of knowledge of chickens in general, let alone chickens raising practices. But God knows what He’s doing. Beth, a squad member, has been researching chickens in preparation for some work she will be doing when she returns home. We are partnering together this month to get the project off the ground, or I guess you could say we’re working to get the project in the coop. We will be holding a workshop, which will teach not only about raising chickens, but about how to sell and market the chickens, how to keep basic financial records, how to reinvest into the project, and how to save and tithe. I am really excited for this opportunity. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as the weeks progress.
