brokenredeemed

I’ve been studying the book of Genesis lately. On my own, as well as with my church life group. I’ve also been reading it with my 7-year-old as we work through the Bible Recap for Kids. I’ve read the book of Genesis multiple times, so for the first time, I decided to purchase a commentary to help me see things I may have missed. First, I want to say…wow! The commentary has helped me see things I’d never noticed before, such as parallels between Adam and Noah, the importance of  people’s names and the way sentences are phrased, and even how the order of chapters impacts the text.

I was reading about Noah and the meaning of his name, which was taken from the word, nuah meaning “to rest.” I questioned why his name was Noah, because his father named him thinking he would be the one to bring his people rest or comfort, yet that certainly wasn’t what he brought. There was even a note in my commentary about wordplay using Noah’s name, when the Ark rested on Mt. Ararat or when the dove could find no place to rest, and therefore returned to the Ark. But I continued to wonder and pray about why Noah’s name was so important, and I realized Noah may not have brought the rest his ancestors hoped he would, but he certainly found rest in God on the Ark. Let’s face it, Noah was at the mercy of God, and the only thing he could do was rest in God’s protection and peace.

Here it is, the end of the month, and this morning, I was praying over my family, and I was reminded of this rest. So often, we feel like we have to always be striving and doing. We have to be “productive.” We set our sights on the future and all that it brings, we worry about what’s to come, we feel like we should always be moving towards some goal. Noah probably could have been worrying about what life would look like after the flood and all the things he’d have to do; yet, he rested in the Ark of God’s presence. He was protected and safe for the time being, and he trusted that God wasn’t going to let him down; He’d brought Noah through too much to abandon him now.

We can get so caught up in what’s next. What’s the next step? What’s our next goal? What will things look like next year, or next month, or even next week? The truth is, we don’t have all the answers. But we serve a God who knows what’s ahead, and He walks beside us in the ups and downs of life. When we fail, He won’t abandon us! The Bible tells us, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34, NIV).

Therefore, may we walk daily in the knowledge that God has us in the palm of His hand, that He’s trustworthy, and good. Last Wednesday, during prayer, we talked about God being our Rock (Yahweh Tsuri), our protector, and firm foundation, and I thought about how it fit perfectly with what I’d already begun writing here. God is our one constant in this world; our foundation. The place we find our footing and stability when seasons and people continually shift and change. Truly, there’s no better place to be, but in the presence of our Holy God. He’s where we find our peace and our rest.