God’s Call to Change the World
Part 3
Learning to Wait With God
“Are We There Yet?”
Genesis 7-9
Introduction
The bible tells us that just as God called and used Noah to change the world, he has called us as well. And over the past two weeks we’ve observed two “world-changing” patterns or characteristics in Noah’s life:
1. Noah Was a Man Who Walked With God.
2. Noah Was a Man Who Worked With God.
Today we’re going to talk about the 3rd “world-changing” characteristic in Noah’s life which is found in Genesis, chapter seven:
17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.
23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 7:17, 23-24 (NIV)
The 3rd “world-changing” characteristic in Noah’s life is . . .
3. Noah Was a Man Who Waited On God.
If ever there were a man who knew the value of waiting on God, it had to be Noah.
•Noah waited on God to help him complete the ark construction – 120 years.
•Noah waited on God to bring the animals into the ark.
•Noah waited on God to bring the rain – seven days.
•Noah waited on God to end the rain – forty days.
•Noah waited on God to rescind the flood waters – 150 days.
Have you ever met someone that just seem to have uncommon patience? Have you ever met someone who seemed to know the secret of waiting on God? Noah was such a person. He understood that God not only “orders our steps” (Ps. 37:23), but also our stops. Noah understood the value and knew the secret of waiting on God.
His secret? Noah understood that waiting on God is not a static process. You see, he realized that “while he was waiting, God was working”.
Transitional Sentence:
While Noah was waiting, God was working in
three specific areas of his life:
While he was waiting . . .
1. God Was Working in the Circumstances of Noah’s Life.
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.
Genesis 8:1 (NIV)
Noah understood that when he was waiting, God was working. And the first area of his life where God was working were his circumstances. God had instructed Noah to build the ark, move in the animals, and move in his family. But just as we said last week, it was not raining when Noah entered the ark. In fact, it didn’t rain for an entire week after Noah entered the ark with his family. If we use our imaginations, we can over hear some of the conversations going on inside the big boat.
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Noah’s Wife: “Okay, Mr. ‘Boat-Building Biologist’, it’s been six days since we’ve stepped foot in this circus craft. When’s it going to start raining? Or is meteorology not your area of expertise?”
Noah: “God has promised to send the rain and the flood dear. And he’ll bring it about in his own timing. Please be patient Sweetheart.”
Noah’s Wife: “Your ‘Sweetheart Talk’ would work a lot better if you would move those skunks to the opposite end of our sleeping quarters!”
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And on the seventh day, God sends the rain. And it rains for forty days and forty nights. And that prompts another conversation:
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Noah’s Wife: “Noah! Is it going to rain for the rest of our lives? I can’t even remember what daylight looks like, let alone what fresh air use to smell like.
Noah: “God will end the rain when his purposes have been accomplished. It won’t be long dear, just have faith.”
Noah’s Wife: “It’s really hard to believe in sunshine when all I can hear is rain, all I can smell are animals and all I can feel are these wooden walls closing in on me. I feel like I’m going nuts and bananas at the same time.”
Noah: “Oh Sweetheart! Thank you so much! I forgot to feed the squirrels and the monkeys this morning.
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Well, after forty days and forty nights, it stops raining. And on and on it seems to go. They reach one milestone only to find themselves waiting on another one.
“When will you be finished?” When is it going to rain?” “When will it stop raining?” “When will we see daylight again?” When will the waters recede?” “When can we let these smelly creatures out of the boat?” “When will we ever get out of this boat?”
Have you ever felt like that? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, I’ve concluded that much of life is what happens while you’re waiting. But of this you can be sure. While you are waiting, God is working in your circumstances. When you need rain, he’ll send it just in time. When you need a breeze, he’ll send it at just the right moment.
In fact, one of the greatest promises for the believer in Christ is found in Romans 8:28 which says,
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NASB95)
If you are waiting on God, I can tell you with confidence that God is working in your circumstances right now! It was true for Noah, and it’s true for you.
There’s a second area that God was working on while Noah was waiting . . .
While he was waiting . . .
2. God Was Working on the Development of Noah’s Character.
Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.
Genesis 8:8 (NIV)
Of all the things that I know about the concept of waiting, I know at least three things for sure:
(1) Waiting Just Ain’t A Whole Lot of Fun.
(2) Waiting is a Test.
(3) Waiting is a Tool.
Sometimes God will completely change our circumstances. But more often than not, he chooses to change and develop us. Waiting is both a test and a tool.
Waiting is a Test
As a follower of Jesus Christ, one of the greatest tests that you will ever have to take is the test of Waiting . And listen; waiting is always a test of your faith. It will test whether or not you really believe that God knows what is best for you; whether or not you believe that He has your best interests in mind. God says, “You build the ark and I’ll bring the flood. You and your family go into the ark and I’ll bring the rain.” And then you hear it. You hear the silence of God and it’s deafening. It feels as though He’s a quadrillion miles away and has left you to keep company with your doubts and fears. Friends, this is where faith is born! To believe when you don’t feel like it. To believe when every circumstances seems to scream shouts of doubt in your ears. To believe even when you can’t see. God is giving you an opportunity to pass the test of faith.
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For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
James 1:3 (NLT)
Waiting is a Tool
Waiting is not only a test of your faith, but it’s also a tool to develop your character.
After 150 days, God stopped the rain and the waters began to recede. The bible tells us that the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4). After another two and a half months, the peaks of mountains became visible. Noah then sent out a raven to find dry land. Then he sent out a dove. But the dove came back because it could find no dry land. After seven days he sent it out again. Genesis 8:11-12 tells us:
11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
Genesis 8:11-12 (NIV)
Can you imagine how much that olive branch meant to Noah? I have to realize that a little hope can go a long way. And waiting is God’s tool to show us real hope. If you will wait on God, you can be sure that he will work in your circumstances as well as develop your character. And I can tell you this, when I am given real hope, my character explodes! Isaiah said it this way:
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
Waiting is God’s tool to give us hope and to give us strength. But wait! There’s more!
Waiting is also God’s tool to construct in us a heart that will endure. Listen the encouragement of the writer of Hebrews about waiting on God:
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere
so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
James 1:3 (NLT)
I have a feeling that the dove came back with that olive branch none too soon. But can you just imagine what that little twig did for Noah’s heart? Hope, strength and endurance flooded his heart! God is at work! Who knows? Maybe Noah did a little dance on the deck of the ark. I don’t know, but I do know that God has a way of bringing olive branches just in time.
Here’s a key point and I really hope you get this. This faith journey that we’re on, it’s not just about our final destination. If that were true, then when each of us came to faith in Christ, we would be whisked away into heaven immediately. No! A thousand times, no! You see this faith journey of following God’s Son is about what we’re becoming in the process as much as it is about the end result. And waiting is one of God’s best tools in developing our character.
Well friends, there’s a third area where God was working in Noah’s life.
While he was waiting . . .
3. God Was Working on the Completion of Noah’s Call.
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years; then he died.
Genesis 9:28-29 (GW)
While Noah was waiting, God was working on the completion of Noah’s call. Remember, God called Noah to change the world. Noah obeyed God by building the ark and enduring the flood. But God wasn’t finished with him yet. And that’s the point that I hope you catch in this last passage. Notice Genesis 9:28-29 on your outline:
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.
29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.
Genesis 9:28-29 (NIV)
Did you catch that? Noah lived 350 years after the flood! God wasn’t finished with him yet. Even though he was (and this is the understatement of the Bible) old, God wasn’t finished with him yet. He still had work to do. And until God was good and ready to take him home, he needed to continue to answer God’s call on his life.
(2nd Service – David Ealy Sharing)
And to top it all off, God gave Noah another symbol of hope for his encouragement. In Genesis 9:16, God says to Noah,
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
Genesis 9:16 (NIV)
So every time Noah saw a rainbow, it was a visible reminder to him that God is a God who keeps his promises. He is a God who finishes what he starts and that includes the work that he starts in human hearts. As Philippians 1:6 says,
I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you,will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6 (GW)
During the next 350 years of Noah’s life, I’m sure that he witnessed his share of rainbows. And you know what, my guess is that he never got tired of seeing them. I know I don’t. I mean when a rainbow stretches across the sky, I become a little kid again. We’re not told exactly what Noah thought about when he saw God’s rainbow in the sky. Maybe he thought about all those years of actually building the boat or how all the animals starting coming to him and into the ark. Or maybe at times he thought about how all those people perished and his own family was saved. We really don’t know, we can only conjecture. But of this, I am sure. Noah knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that when he was called to wait on God, he could count on the fact that God was working in his behalf. Working …
…in the circumstances of our lives.
…on the development of our character.
…on the completion of our call.
Let’s close today’s service with a prayer of thanks and then a song of praise.
