Think back to high school English class when you were taught words that applied to concepts in literature. You learned words like alliteration, metaphor, homophone, adjective - remember those words? Who remembers personification? I saw the personification, this week, of a portion of Genesis 4:7. “Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must rule over it.”
When we read Genesis 8:1, “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.” God remembered - does He forget sometimes? I know He has a lot going on, more than we can possibly imagine, but does God forget? It’s true that His timing doesn’t align with our time, but that’s because we want what we want, yesterday, and God doesn’t work on man’s timeline. Does God forget? I don’t think so, we may worry that He has forgotten, but I don’t think God is flawed like we are, in that He suffers from forgetfulness. So, why does the Bible say He remembered? Here is the second six-syllable word you may have learned in high school English - anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphisms occur when we apply human characteristics to a deity in order to make sense of, or understand the idea, better. Noah, his family, and the animals were on the ark for quite some time. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, but the water remained for 150 days (Gen. 7:24). That’s longer than we had to #stayathome2020. Imagine the sounds of water hitting the ark. Imagine the sea-sickness and resulting nausea, they felt as they floated around the globe.
On the other hand, it’s good that God seems slow to act. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) God is patient. He gives man, with all of his sin, time to decide that a change of heart is needed. He knows that every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood (Gen. 8:21) and He gives us time to realize that we need Him to make us right. Maybe you, or someone you know, need to turn your life over to God. Maybe you are reading this message today and you have realized that God is not to blame for your situation, instead, He is giving you time to come to Him for direction. Maybe you are realizing that His way is better than your way. I came to this realization some time ago, and I admit, there were some habits I didn’t want to let go of, but I can attest, He sure knows better than Kim! His view, His plan, walking in the Spirit has more rewards that I could even have put in place for myself. If you are ready to try God and you would like to discuss it, please reach out to me or someone else you know who walks in the Spirit. You will not regret it. Amen.
Thank you for reading! Kim
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