When the wait is worth it.

Sophia Lorena BenjaminWaiting can be quite a task. Especially around things involving uncertainty of the outcome; like a student waiting for examination results, a job seeker awaiting an interview response, an entrepreneur awaiting finance approval for a start-up project and so on.

In times of such uncertainty, if we can get ourselves to trust the Lord enough we not only get strength to endure but also get to learn hearing His voice and receive instructions concerning the next step and when the waiting period is finally done we come out becoming stronger, more mature, more spiritually aware, even more discerning which in turn lets us step into something so much more refreshing and out- of- the- mundane.

When God made Noah build the ark, Noah had to wait, locked up inside for a long time, while it rained crazy on the outside. Think about it. How uncertain, scary and intimidating things might have been. Just imagine, he couldn’t even peep out and see what’s going on, day after day and night after night, it was nothing but the sounds and the pouring of water, water and more water.

Of course the Bible says that God remembered Noah and the animals in the ark and the waters began to recede, but Noah had to wait. Though the rainstorm was over, the aftermath of the flood was taking time for normalcy to show up.  150 days after the storm began, the boat rested on the top of a mountain. 90 days later the mountain tops just started getting visible.

At last! it finally seemed that after such a prolonged and patient waiting, things were going to get normal.

Yet Noah still had to wait.

40 days later he opened a window and sent a Raven. The raven kept going back and forth in and out of the ark. He also sent out a dove but the dove came back because the waters were too high still.

So Noah waited.

7 days later he sent out the Dove, again.

He waited until evening. Then the Dove returned with a fresh leaf in its beak. Yay! Things had begun to look better, the little sign of the leaf told Noah the waters on the earth had begun to dry.

But, Noah had to wait.

He waited seven more days and sent the dove again. This time the dove did not return.

But, Noah had to wait.

Twenty nine days later Noah took off the covering of the ark to look and the water was gone.

But, Noah had to wait.

Eight weeks later the earth was completely dry.

Finally, God Himself told Noah that his waiting time was over and that it was time for him to be free and also that it was time to release all the animals.

The long wait was finally, finally over and it was now time to step into dominion, to be fruitful, to multiply on a totally clean earth, once again.

 Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁷ Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

Genesis 8 (NIV)

Take a moment to think about losing the freedom which Noah and his family had enjoyed before their confinement in the ark. The freedom to breathe in fresh air, the outdoor adventures  – fishing,  hunting and enjoying life without restraint.

In realisation of regaining lost freedom, the first thing that Noah did after stepping out was to worship the Lord by building an altar, after all he and his family had endured the flood, the thunder storms, the discomfort and all the uncertainty that went with it.

At the end of all the waiting they were blessed because God was pleased with their endurance, their sacrifice and their acceptance of the hardship. What’s more, they were gifted with a promise from God that they would not go through something like that again. Even better, they received an assurance, signed off by a rainbow and a vow from God the father, that He would not destroy the earth like that ever again.

Noah and his family had made it! Safe and sound. And before them was a cleaner, newer and fresher earth. Life ahead was going to be better than before.

The waiting was worth it.

  And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease

Genesis 8 (NIV)