Patience and Obedience: Genesis 8:1-19
Faithful people don’t just act; they patiently wait for God to reveal His way. Think about stories where godly people get into trouble. Those stories are either about a person intentionally choosing sin (like David and Bathsheba) or about a person impulsively acting thinking they are doing God’s will (like Peter stepping out of the boat). Faithfulness isn’t just about following God; it is equally about knowing when to act.
God remembered Noah. That seems like a funny comment to say about an omniscient God. Did God forget about Noah as the ark floated around? Can God even forget?
The Hebrew word we translate as remember is not the word the Hebrew people use to indicate the opposite of forgetting. This word is used for intentionally bringing back to one’s mind. God didn’t forget about Noah and his family and the animals during the period when the water receded. God knew the time wasn’t right. The sediment in the water needed to settle. The wind needed to dry the land. Only after the earth calmed down was it the right time. In God’s provision, He waited for the right time and then brought forth the rest of His plan. That’s what the Hebrew word for remember is saying.
While God is patient, so is Noah. God’s patience is an intentional patience, waiting for the laws of physics to make the sediment settle, the water to calm, and the winds to form. Noah’s patience is what we call obedience. Noah doesn’t force the doors open before their time. Noah doesn’t cast off the roof as soon as the rain stops. Noah waits upon the Lord and only moves as the Lord directs. This is why Noah is such an appropriately named character.
The word Noah means rest. It’s not a rest is in sleeping or taking a nap. It’s rest like we experience on an early spring day sitting inside, sipping a cup of tea, looking outside, and beginning to dream of what we’ll do in a few weeks. It’s the calming peace we know after confessing our sins before God and genuinely feeling forgiveness. Noah lives up to his name. Noah waits upon the Lord to direct his actions.
Noah doesn’t do nothing, however. Noah sends out the raven. Noah sends out the dove, who comes back and goes out again a couple of times. Noah may be resting, but he’s still collecting data. He’s making sure that when God says “go,” he’s as prepared as he can be. Noah isn’t trying to force God’s hand or making his own path; he’s preparing for when God says “go.”
Noah can afford to be patient because he believes God’s way is best. He’s shown that through this whole story. God said build a boat, so he did. God said stay inside, so he did. Every step of the way, Noah believed God. Faithful people don’t just act; they patiently wait for God to reveal His way.
