Today’s scripture: Genesis 8 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
When I read Genesis Chapter 8, I hear the words of Noah’s adventures with the great flood, the ark, and life with the animals. But in my mind, I am brought to places in my life when the waters were high, I felt trapped, and finding the dry land was most difficult.
When I was a teenager, in many ways, I was typical. But then again, I was studious, I loved school, and I was a bit nerdy about loving to learn and doing all my assignments ahead of time. But there was a difficult time in my family when I was in high school. It was very hard on me. I hated to go home. I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. I just hunkered down and did what I could. It was hard on all of us. I felt like I was drowning. I would sleep in my car at times because I did not want to go home. Clinical depression that is debilitating and mind altering can put a serious strain on families, relationships, and just general living conditions. I just wanted to stay away with every new story I would here. I won’t repeat what happened here, but it was that bad, and then some.
My car was my ark. I felt it was keeping me afloat. The rain was pouring, the wind was blowing, and I could barely stay afloat. But God kept me going. I did not realize that then, but I do know that now.
I probably sent out my raven dozens of times to check and see if there was a place to safely land. It was hard to know. But over time, with modern medicine, treatment, and patience, and God working in the situation, the waters subsided, and there was a dry place to land. As time passed, things started to get back to a new normal.
Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
God doesn’t promise that life will be easy. But the promise is that God will always be there.
Thought for the day: God is always there. Even when times are rough, and we feel like we’re under water, God’s presence never ceases.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.