Genesis 8:1-4
Genesis 8:3 (KJV)And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
I have one word for the Ark experience: BORING!
They didn't have smartphones. They didn't have Netflix. They didn't even have books or newspapers! My imagination tells me that the women on board may have brought a loom to continue making cloth. But in reality, it's likely they had nothing to do on The Good Ship, except feed animals and shovel poop.
On the other hand, NOT boring. Because that's a lot of compost to make.
Life on the Ark was a test of sanity, for sure. The first few hours in there may have been nothing but frightening. A supernatural experience brought the animals into the ark. God himself shut them all into the Ark. And while it was safe, it was anything but peaceful.
If this family were not particularly "animal people" before (you know, those fams that have a farm in their backyard. & sometimes one in the house too!) they couldn't have felt very safe about the elephant or lion. Or giraffe. Or, if they were me, the dog. (I'm a scardy-cat.) Besides the caution they'd have about their newfound pets, they'd never heard raindrops before.
Even the tiniest first drops of rain would have seemed like the end of the world. THEN, once the earth had broken up causing the "fountains of the deep" to add to the flood coming from the sky, that would have been a terrible noise! Then, the first time that huge Ark was lifted off the ground by the water would have included the wood groaning and creaking in a horrific way. This family had never needed sea-legs before. Suddenly, they were a family of the waves.
In life we are sometimes forced to become a family of the waves. Life will at various times begin to rain down change upon us. We will have brand new experiences that are frightening. From new jobs, to new schools, new friends, and new Ministry. God, in His position as Alpha and Omega, able to know the end from the beginning, sees we need newness of life. Getting us to that new life may not be easy. But he's put us in a place of safety to wait out the storm.
As with Noah, even the place of safety can feel scary. But trust it.
As with Noah, the place of safety can be LOTS of work to maintain. Do the work.
In this time period of change for your family, don't waste all your time on our present day's entertainment. It will distract you from what God is trying to teach you. Play games together, work on a project together, do outreach together.
Will you bicker? Probably.
Will you get irritated with each other? Likely.
But, the storms require that you learn how to do this new thing together.
Once the scary part is over, like Noah, you'll have the maintenance part of keeping your ambiance clean and livable. Noah's family floated in peace (or perhaps a better description is, "floated in boredom") for seven months before the Ark hit something, and with a thud (again, probably frightening) the Ark stopped moving.
Changes bring us to new things that are WONDERFUL to life. But getting to the new good requires change. Change can be very uncomfortable, no matter what age we are.
Accept life's changes and become a student of peace. You'll get impatient as you float along with nothing, but work, to do. But once you learn to be peaceful, you'll feel better about patience.
God will never leave you during your journey to change, He will help you find peace, and He will protect you.
Access Him and His love often.
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