Stop and Go, Now Wait

Yesterday, I talked about refreshing and renewing, and then if it’s time to go, then go, and if not? Re-do.

This is a takeaway from that thought.

Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord. In times of corruption, lawlessness, and rebellion, the bible says Noah was just and perfect and walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) God has a plan. Restoration. Start again. Noah is the man.

God outlined His plans to Noah, and Noah learned God would establish His Covenant with him. How? By saving him from the destruction. Where will this salvation come from? By the ark of safety that Noah is responsible for building.

This speaks to me. Salvation comes with effort. It’s not just a confession, and life continues the same way. No. It’s working to make our salvation effective by changing what we do with our lives. We don’t know what Noah did before God’s plan, and maybe Noah knew how to construct things, but God told him to build, and Noah and his sons went to work without training or schooling.

We can calculate the days, months, and years. With about 150 years to spend with his three sons, Noah begins to build the ark. It took decades to happen. God tells him what the end will look like, but Noah must figure out the intricacies of creating something he’s never seen for a purpose he’s never experienced! Perhaps he planted trees that someday would be the framework, siding, door, and window. How many times did he have to repeat an action because he didn’t understand or because he did it wrong? Who knows! Maybe he came up with the saying, “Measure twice, cut once!”

Noah developed food sources that would someday be harvested for his family and the saved animals. He produced for his family daily through every season to live during these construction years.

I can only imagine the long days and seasons,
sunrises and sunsets, moonrises, year after year,
doing what God had called him to do without seeing any results.

Can we be the same? Would we make it with no understanding of the future? Probably not. We are the microwave generation. Instant foods and results. We are becoming the AI generation. Let the computer do it for us.

All the while, Noah preached the message of righteousness. (Right Living) There were no volunteers, nor did any heed his voice. I suspect he was poked fun at. None joined him in his endeavor except for his immediate family.

Sounds like lonely times.

How did he care for his mental sanity? He had to encourage his family even when they doubted him. But he heard from God. And of this, we only surmise that Noah listened to God regularly. Daily? Weekly on a day of Rest? In times of Crisis? All through the waiting game of readying for the next step?

The answer must be a resounding “Yes!”

Finally, God says, “Go into the ark.” (Genesis 6:18). Just Noah and his immediate family. God shuts the door. The life-ending flood is beginning. Noah is 600 years old. All that he has known is coming to an end. Notice the numbering of the scriptures. From Genesis 6:18 until Genesis 8:16 (where they exited the ark), life ends, but a representation remains and is sustained by the safety of the ark built by Noah and his sons.

Forty days of deluge, then 150 long days before the ark settled, and they could leave. Could it be the total number of days in the ark was 190 days long?

Think about it. You prepare for nearly 150 years (give or take), and then the cleansing comes, and for the next 190 days, you sit patiently with nothing to do but care for the inhabitants on board—no games, books, news, or social platforms to share your experience.

After a few decades of construction, surely you can isolate for 190 days in the vessel you built for your salvation?

All of this time, I wonder what they did with their time. What on earth do you do?

You wait. And that is perhaps the most challenging thing for any of us to do. Wait.

I’m thinking about the time we spend between stopping and going. What do you do with it? Maybe it’s from this that David’s 37th Psalms finds its roots.

Verse 7: Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…

Resting and waiting. Other translations tell us to “be still,” “trust…be patient…surrender…etc.” But notice. The resting we are commanded to do is “in the Lord.” Once there, then you wait. Patiently. Quietly. Confidently. Not fretful. Not Worried.

Maybe that’s how Noah lived those 190 days. Resting. Waiting. Patiently. For 150 years (or so), he worked tirelessly. Perhaps. But it took a long time to create his vessel of salvation. Gathering animals. Harvesting and collection. Preparing. Maybe he wondered how it would happen and asked himself repeatedly, “Have I Lost My Mind?”

Some years were plodding, others exciting, but he continued making progress. Some days, you worked hard, and other days were easier. All the while, stopping and going never ceased. Sometimes patience works, and other times it doesn’t. But from the 7th day of Rest established by God in the beginning, a rhythm has been divinely inspired.

Life is easier when you learn how to stop and rest patiently before you are ready to go.

At my age, stopping and going has not settled into a routine. I’m still learning to be patient. Wait. Rest. In the Lord.

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