Noahs Ark would arguably be one of the best-known bible stories, beside the birth of Jesus.  I am fairly sure most people, no matter their church history, would have some idea about the story – if not, let me jog your memory – an old guy named Noah, a big boat called an ark, every kind of animal in pairs, lots of rain, big flood. Got it?

Yesterday, in my quiet time I found myself in Genesis, chapters seven and eight, of the bible.  This is where you will find the main story but if you’re looking for the whole picture, you’ll need to include chapters six and nine.

As I was re-reading this story my eyes opened to it in a different light.  Perhaps it is the corona-virus-run-world we are living in that led me to draw some similarities between Noah’s story and mine, maybe even yours.

What struck me yesterday in my reading is that Noah can be a real-time example to us in this season.  That within his story there is hope and comfort and we can learn more of the Fathers heart towards us.  So, will you take a journey with me into the ark and dig a little deeper than your memory of the story may take you?  Will you follow me down the rabbit hole so we may actually see it in a different light together? Lets go.

Noah was told by God to build an ark and along with his family, house inside it one pair of every animal, male and female; with the exception of the animals God himself had approved for eating and sacrifice.  Of those animals, Noah was to take seven pairs^[1].

Here is my first ah-ha moment – God was so concerned about providing for Noah and his family, and the future human race, that he gave them all they would need to sustain themselves both physically and spiritually.  The God who sent Noah into the ark and the God that watches over us through this season will provide!

Next, God told Noah that he would make it rain for forty days and forty nights^[2]. 

 It is commonly believed that this would have been the first-time rain fell on the earth.  Noah was about to see something he had never seen before and through it all he trusted God and all that he said he would do.

Leaders all over the world, as well as the World Health Organisation are referring to this pandemic as something the world has never seen before!  The questions I ask myself, “How is that sitting with me?”  “Am I trusting God or am I a little panic stricken?”  To be completely honest I have had glimpses of panic.  This week my daughter, who has multiple disabilities, went back to school and I had to search myself to find my ‘brave’ and let her go.  What I really needed to search myself for was my faith.

Noah had immeasurable faith!

As soon as Noah, his family and all the animals were in the ark, it tells us that the Lord closed the door behind them.^[3]

This made me wonder what door God may be closing in my life during this season?  What could he be telling me to leave outside the ark so that when it is all over there is room?  Room for something new, or even room for him!  What is he closing out of my life so I can leave it behind?

In Psalm 139 it says:

You've gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow me to spare me from the harm of my past.
Psalm 139:5 TPT

I love that picture of my God following behind, blocking whatever needs to stay in the past, so I can move forward into the future he has prepared.

As we move into a new season of this virus, with restrictions being lessened and our local ‘world’ slowly opening up.  I wonder if we would allow God to close a door if there is one that needs to be closed?

Noah answered the call of God and voluntarily allowed himself and his family to be held captive in that ark for a little over a year^[4], until the Lord told him to release the animals.

I imagine Noah and his wife, their sons and wives following those animals out of the ark, embarking on a new life themselves.  A new normal that would have felt anything but like the normal they had known.

So, can we look at Noah and find our self in the story?  We aren’t locked up in an ark with whole heap of stinky animals, but we have been confined.   The world as we knew it looks very different in many ways.  How will we navigate it?  Who will be our guide?  Will our faith override our fear?  What will this new season bring?

Can we follow the footsteps of Noah as we embark on our new world?

^[1] Genesis 7:2 NLT

^[2] Genesis 7:4 NLT

^[3] Genesis 7:16 NLT

^[4] Genesis 8:13-14 NLT