Patient Hope
Imagine what Noah and his family must have felt waiting for the water to recede and the ground to dry, knowing that whatever lie outside the ark would look nothing like what they had known before. When we read our passage from today, we read a lot of waiting: 40 days of rain and flood; 150 days of nothing but water; months of drifting as the water began to drain; months parked on top of the mountain waiting for the ground be dry enough to leave the ark. In total, the family and animals waited for over a year to embark on their new life in the new world.
Waiting may not be anyone’s favorite pastime. The longer we wait, the more time there is for doubt to breed in our minds. The more opportunity we have to second guess or impatiently form a Plan B. However, waiting is for our benefit. Throughout scripture, we read of people called to wait for the fulfillment of their promises. While some of these built their faith while they waited, some struggled and had moments of faltering. (Don’t you love that scripture shows us humanity in all its dysfunctional beauty!) Patiently waiting does not come naturally. Just spend some time with a toddler and you will quickly understand that we were not born to wait patiently. As our society becomes more and more instantaneous, we make it harder and harder on ourselves. We have fewer opportunities to practice patience and often find times when God ordains us to wait very trying indeed.
Luckily, we have scripture like the one we read today that show us the benefit of waiting. Imagine what would have happened if Noah and his family had impatiently opened the ark’s door before God said it was time? Imagine the animals struggling in the thick and deep mud. The very animals the Lord saved from the flood would have died from lack of food or exhaustion from traveling in a world still soggy from the flood waters. Noah waited and was rewarded with a beautiful – and ready – world to let the animals out into.
Hebrews 6:11-12 encourages during times of waiting as well. It says, “And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” As Christians, we have many promises that we cling to. Those don’t come to people who give up before their time. They are not obtained by the ones who try to thwart God’s plan to bend it to their will – and their timeline. We all want to inherit the promises of God, like everyone on the ark. Like the people on the ark, we too must wait patiently for God’s perfect timing. From our vantage point, we may think the timing is right, but God knows the situations need a bit more ‘drying out’. Trust in God’s plan. Trust in His love. Hold time to your faith and exercise your patience with hope, and – like Noah – when the time is right, you will be lead from your waiting place into your promise.
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