Tag Archives: Noah

Sunday Scriptures Plan Ahead

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Plan ahead to reach your goals. How many times have you heard that advice, or something similar to it?

God gave Noah a plan to build the ark that would save Noah and his family, along with two of every kind of living thing, from the flood God was about to unleash upon the world. What if Noah didn’t build the ark according to God’s plan? I imagine it may not have been large enough, or sturdy enough, or may not have floated. That being the case, Noah would have perished.

Instead of making things up as he went along, Noah relied on God to provide the blueprint for the ark. Noah didn’t head off on his own to create the large boat that would be his lifeboat. He followed God’s instructions.

Noah gathered his tools and equipment and began working. Noah followed through and completed the job. I doubt Noah felt he’d accomplished the great task on his own, especially when the ark was ready, and God called all the animals to it, then closed the door once everyone was inside.

Just as Noah planed ahead and followed God’s blueprint to save his life, God gives us a blueprint to save our lives as well. It is the plan of salvation found through the sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. We can head out on our own, gathering tools and sketching a blueprint, but if we don’t follow the plan God established in the Bible, our boat won’t float and we’ll be sunk.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Christ our Risen Lord and Savior. No matter how good a builder they might be.

Do you like to plan ahead, or are you more a spur of the moment person?

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This is how you are to make it: The boat is to be as long as 150 long steps, as wide as twenty-five long steps, and eight times taller than a man. Make a window for the boat, that goes down a cubit from the roof. Put a door in the side of the boat. And make it with first, second, and third floors …  Noah did just what God told him to do. Genesis 6:15-16 & 22 (NLV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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While We Wait

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By Sandy Kirby Quandt

Right now I’m in a season of waiting … again …

In an earlier post, I mentioned the patience Noah needed while he waited for God to open  the door to the ark after the flood.

This post is inspired by the account of the disciples on the sea during the storm. (Matthew 14:22-33)

Among the many things I thought about as I reread this story was the fact Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat and told them to wait for him.

It wasn’t until the disciples had been in the boat since before sunset of the previous day that Jesus appeared to them walking on the water between 3:00–6:00 a.m.

There are numerous accounts in the Bible of people who waited for one thing or the other.

For years Hannah prayed and waited for the LORD to give her a child.

Anna and Simeon both prayed and waited to old age before God fulfilled his promise to allow them to see the Messiah.

The Israelites waited for someone to deliver them from Egypt.

Then they waited 40 years to enter the Promised Land.

David waited over fourteen years to become king.

We wait for children to be born.

We wait for the right job. Right spouse. Right home. Right economic climate.

We wait for unanswered prayers. Healing. Peace. Restoration.

We wait for that book contract. College acceptance letter. Prodigal to come home.

We hurry up and wait.

Let’s go back to the disciples in the boat on the sea during the horrible storm.

They had no other option but to wait on Jesus, did they?

They didn’t have the power to stop the raging wind and rain. They didn’t have the power to get safely to shore on their own. They had to wait no matter how long it took before Jesus arrived and saved them.

I believe it’s the same for us. Sure we can be like Sarah and Abraham, take things into our own hands and try to rush God into action.

Any other hands raised out there who’ve foolishly tried this?

But when the disciples waited, Jesus showed up at just the right time. He arrived at the exact moment that would prove who he was. The One with the power to calm the sea and command the wind to be still.

And while they waited perhaps their faith grew stronger. Perhaps their confidence increased. Perhaps they realized it really wasn’t about them after all, but about the Savior they loved and served.

What do you think? Is waiting something you find easy to do or is it difficult? I’m not real fond of waiting but I’m getting better at it. I’m beginning to realize I don’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter.

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

But I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me. Micah 7:7 (GNT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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One of my posts is scheduled to appear on Inspire a Fire October 6, 2015. Please stop by and check it out.

Sunday Scriptures — Two by Two

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Among the countless things I ponder, one is how all the animals arrived at the ark Noah built all at the same time. In pairs, no less, with extras that would be used as sacrifices once the Ark landed on dry land and Noah and his family exited the very large ship.

One estimate I read of the amount of animals in this roundup based on the dimensions of the ark said it may have been able to fit close to 45,000. That’s a lot of animals.

I would have loved to witness the parade toward the ark at God’s call.

Don’t you think that’s what it was? God’s call.

I believe the animals were so in tune to God, they knew exactly when to set forth toward Noah’s arky-arky built of gopher barky-barky. (How many remember that song?)

Because the animals each proceeded at their own pace, I imagine the snails and snakes set out first, with the cheetahs and birds following later, and the elephants and giraffes somewhere in between. Yet, each reached the ark at the same time.

Amazing. Simply Amazing.

If I’d been the one building the ship that ferried the animals and Noah’s family, I’m pretty positive I’d have worried with the details of getting those animals on board. “LORD, how in the world am I supposed to build this ark, warn the people, stock food, convince my wife I am not crazy, AND gather up the animals? You know I’m not overly thrilled with snakes…could we leave them behind? How do you expect me to do all that? Hmm?”

Well, fortunately, God didn’t choose me for the task. He chose someone who would be obedient and do what God asked him to do, build the ark, and trust God to handle the details of gathering the animals.

Many times I find I worry over things I have no control over, like gathering the animals, and ignore the things I can control, like pounding nails into wood.

Do any of you have the same problem?

Maybe we need to do the job God gives us to do, and leave the details to him.

Any jobs you feel called to do that you need to trust God with the details? I know I sure do.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

All of them went along into the ark to Noah in pairs—all flesh into which God had breathed the breath of life. All those in the ark, males and females of all living flesh, went in just as God had told them to do. And the Eternal One shut them all in for the duration of the flood. Genesis 7:15-16 (Voice)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Sunday Scriptures — Waiting on God’s Timing

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Waiting on God’s perfect timing can be difficult, wouldn’t you agree?

In re-reading the account of Noah and the ark recently, it struck me how patient Noah was, not to mention how obedient.

Noah did everything God told him to do. He not only waited for the day God shut Noah, his family, and all the animals inside the ark, but he waited inside that boat for what may have seemed forever until he could once again walk on dry land.

His total time inside the ark was over one year.

I imagine once the flooding ceased, Noah was anxious for the waters to recede, the land to dry, and leave the ark.

Yet, Noah waited for God’s perfect timing. He sent out birds to test the earth to see if the land was dry or not, but he didn’t leave the ark until God said it was okay to do so.

There are times I’m impatient. Lots of times. I can’t see why in the world things haven’t gone according to my timeline. I’m ready to hop out of this ark and get on dry land. Like my dad used to say, “Let’s get this show on the road. What’s the hold-up?”

Well, it would seem the hold-up is God. He knows what’s best. He is Sovereign. His plan is perfect. He doesn’t want us sinking up to our hips in leftover mud from the flood. He wants us to walk safely on dry land.

While it can be difficult waiting on God’s perfect timing for whatever it is we’re waiting for, we might need to remember our view from the window of the ark isn’t God’s view. God can see all the mud holes that might swallow us up.

He’ll tell us when the time is right to step outside. We just need to be like Noah and wait in patient obedience.

Easier said than done.

Any flood waters you’re waiting for God to dry up so you can proceed out of your ark?

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God did not forget about Noah and the animals with him in the boat. So God made a wind blow, and the water started going down. God stopped up the places where the water had been gushing out from under the earth. He also closed up the sky, and the rain stopped. For one hundred fifty days the water slowly went down. Then on the seventeenth day of the seventh month of the year, the boat came to rest somewhere in the Ararat mountains. The water kept going down, and the mountain tops could be seen on the first day of the tenth month.

Forty days later Noah opened a window to send out a raven, but it kept flying around until the water had dried up. Noah wanted to find out if the water had gone down, and he sent out a dove. Deep water was still everywhere, and the dove could not find a place to land. So it flew back to the boat. Noah held out his hand and helped it back in.

Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again. It returned in the evening, holding in its beak a green leaf from an olive tree. Noah knew that the water was finally going down. He waited seven more days before sending the dove out again, and this time it did not return.

Noah was now six hundred one years old. And by the first day of that year, almost all the water had gone away. Noah made an opening in the roof of the boat and saw that the ground was getting dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was completely dry.

God said to Noah, “You, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law may now leave the boat. Genesis 8:1-16 (CEV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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