But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
Genesis 8:1 (NASB)
Patience is a worthy attribute (Galatians 5: 22), some people are beautiful examples of it, and others (like myself) have to work at it. In that, we never pray “Lord give me patience” for He will surely send trials to train us in patience…a painful affair indeed. while I was meditating on today’s verse the Spirit showed me the patience to be found in it; there is the patience of God our Creator, and there is also the patience of Noah.
To think of the Almighty requiring patience may seem disrespectful, yet it makes sense when you think of His perfect plans that require timing and thus patience. Naturally, He knows the beginning from the end of things, knowing the results of His handiwork. As a baker waits for the right time to remove the bread or cake from the oven, so our Creator waits too. The patient waiting of Noah is a different matter altogether; he knows neither the timing nor the end result, but he knows the Baker and trusts Him. The receding of the floods was not a sudden event, just like the building of the ark and its filling, the drying of the earth took time. During this time Noah prayed and waited patiently, trusting God.
Dear Reader, we have prayer requests in our lives that require answering in God’s perfect timing – we need the patience of Noah every day. As Noah did, may we seek God often and regularly, sure in the knowledge that He can and will provide in His perfect timing. It is also worth remembering that when God fulfilled His promise of preserving Noah, the first thing that Noah did was to give thanks and worship God for His provision. May we pray patiently that in due time, we also may thank and worship Him who preserves us.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
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