Greater than the storms
I have a small wave tattooed on the inside of my left wrist. One of my absolute favorite places is at the ocean, looking out over the seemingly infinite expanse of water. I love the sound of waves crashing over top of each other and onto the land. Watching the sunrise over the vast blue stretch of ripples is a delight I will never tire of. But this wave means much more to me than my feelings about the ocean.
While doing a study in Genesis a few years ago, I was struck by the story of Noah. It was 2020, and the world was shutting down. As it was, I was wrestling with the grief of my mom’s death while sorting through the details of her estate from states away. I could empathize with how I thought Noah might be feeling while trapped on the ark day after day, waiting for the rain to disappear from the sky, maybe wondering if God would fulfill His promise that the rain truly would stop.
The beginning of Genesis 8, in particular, grabbed my attention. “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.” (Genesis 8:1-2, NIV, emphasis mine)
God remembered Noah and the promise He had made. He saved Noah’s family just as He said He would. God was faithful to Noah. I find it incredible that God knew that He could choose to cease the rain and recede the floodwaters at any time, but He stopped the rain after forty days and forty nights, at the exact time He outlined to Noah. God was in complete control of the storm. God, in His infinite power and mightiness, not only brought the storm onto the earth but stopped the storm at His command.
The other piece of this story is that Noah trusted God—in a literal storm—and in Genesis 8, God proved Himself trustworthy. When God commanded Noah to build the ark and gather his family and animals in Genesis 6 and 7, Noah obeyed. He trusted that God would do as He said He would. I can imagine the relief and delight Noah felt when he saw and heard the rain stop.
After emerging from my storm, I had that tiny wave tattooed on my wrist where I could see it daily. I wanted it to remind me that God is greater than the storms. He brings the waves and recedes them. I can trust Him in the depths as the waters rise around me. Whatever our circumstances on this earth, God’s eternal promises to His children are steadfast. And He will always be faithful to His promises, just as He was to His promise to Noah.
Lord, I pray that in the midst of the storms of this life, we are each reminded that You are mightier and more powerful than these storms. I pray that we would cling to You knowing that You are trustworthy and will be faithful to Your promises to us, just as You were faithful to Noah in the flood. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
