I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. – Genesis 9:13-15

This week we discussed Noah in our Bible time. The one lesson that resonates is the one of obedience. Noah was obedient…extremely obedient. His obedience caused his friends to scratch their heads. His obedience was long suffering. His obedience rallied his own 3 sons. His extreme obedience saved his family from disaster. Noah was impressive. There are all sorts of guesses as to the time it took to build the ark. Some I researched said over 100 years…100 years of mocking, teasing, and humiliation. Wow…some of us cannot even withstand one day of scrutiny; much less an ongoing assault of criticism. No one likes to be examined. No one wants to be under the microscope. No one likes for others to evaluate them. We all want to ‘do our own thing’ and wrestle with our own decisions. We let God follow but few of us allow Him to speak, to lead, to direct our lives. We have been so busy leading that we never stop…until there is a flood. Then we stop. Then we surrender. Then we send out an S.O.S. for God to do something. And He reaches down and soothes our souls, He catches our tears, He restores our boat…and we wave goodbye to Him as we set our sails for our new destination.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. –Psalm 37:4

Often times we treat God like a genie in a bottle. We feel good about our spirituality, and we look to God to bless our feeble attempts at loving Him. When we encounter hard times we look for him to perform, to rescue, to do what we want. When He doesn’t answer like a genie…we collapse. We struggle with our faith. We ask, “Where was God?” Our faith grows cold and we give up on God. We continue to go through the motions of life. We think we can “handle” everything. And we can’t. We don’t even come close. We abuse the verse in Psalms claiming, “God does not give us the desires of our heart.” And you’re right; He doesn’t. Because you did not interpret the verse as it is written. The verse says, “Delight yourself in HIM and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Yeah, pretty shocking how far we have taken this verse out of context. First, it asks us to “Delight in the Lord.” Delight in the Lord…think about Him, think about His character, think about His Omnipotence, think about Him being Omniscient, think about Him being unchanging. Think about Him filling the great divide between us and Him … with His very own Son. Think on the magnitude of that kind of love. Yesterday, tomorrow, and forever His love will remain. He set the sun in the sky by morning and He gives light by the moon in the evening. He lit up the sky with glittering stars and only He knows exactly the hairs on your head. Only He knows the silhouette of your heart, and only He has the plan that can complete you. Oh, how He wishes to give you the desires that make your heart sing and dance. His desires…the One that made you.

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. –Matthew 6:19-21 (The Message)

Noah was an impressive man. One who delighted himself with God. Not much else mattered to Noah. I wonder how Noah tuned out all that noise. All that noise that drowned under the massive flood. How did he do it? How do we become so in-tuned to God that we are impervious to the people that tease, and examine, and summarize our faith? I think Noah was an incredible listener. I am convinced that Noah knew how to “be still” before God. I want to be like Noah…or try and be like him. I want to be found obedient more than I want anything else. I think God created us to communicate with Him. He desires a relationship of intimacy and covenant.  When we approach Him with heartfelt awe and appreciation…He meets us with all the resources of Heaven…not earth…not things that will rust and fade. In Guyana I was alone with God. He was my sustaining power. All I did and accomplished was not in my own strength. He showed me what He looked like…and I want Him ‘out front’, not me. There was a flood that swallowed the earth. And there are floods that swallow us. We wrestle in the tsunamis of life until He comes…but then we quickly forget His strength when the waters recede. Noah’s obedience was not inconsistent. Noah persevered through years of commitment and God provided for Noah, and his family. When we give God our devotion, our commitment, our circumstances…He sends a promise. A promise that He will prepare a place for us. A promise that He will give us a spirit of power and self control. A promise that we will be with Him and He with us. Our treasure becomes Him. And no amount of taunting, teasing, hardship, or hell can separate us from His love. He signed His name in technicolor prisms of light to seal the deal. God made a promise with a rainbow after the flood. God made a promise with a cross on Calvary. Examine your heart. Fix your eye on His love. Be like Noah…build your life in obedience. And watch for God to provide beyond the genie in the bottle. Infinity and beyond…

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