What’s in a Flood?
Monday, June 16, 2008
“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth” (Genesis 7:17).
Today we went sailing with my brother and his wife. And even though the lake is manmade I never once considered that I was floating a hundred feet over what used to be rugged Texas hill country. Instead I simply enjoyed the beautiful green water and hot summer breezes.
The region is dry and hard. There are very few ranches in the area and no farms. The land can’t support much more than brush and weeds. On shore I was sure to wear shoes and never considered taking the truck off road. Yet we cruised over the landscape with relative ease being born along by only the wind. We floated over the rough canyons, literally, in our boat.
Tonight I like to think of Noah’s ark similarly floating over, not just the earth, but all the troubles that invited the flood originally. God literally picked them up, a sample of all creation, and carried them over the troubles of this world. He separated Noah and his family, along with the animals, from the rest of the world. And in the process washed the entire world with water. When the ark came to rest it was practically on a different planet. Some theorize that the flood shaped much of the earth’s topography. And most certainly it was a quieter place when they emerged.
I have always viewed the flood as that which almost destroyed it all. But when I read tonight how the ark was lifted above the earth I see the flood differently. As my boat sailed above the rough Texas hill country God’s flood lifted Noah and his family and cargo safely above the corruption of the world. Where once the flood was the destroyer I now see it as God sent it, as salvation.
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