STEPPING OUT OF THE BOAT
Genesis 8:2, 4, 15-16 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
[4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
[15] And God spake unto Noah, saying,
[16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Noah was 600 years old when God gave him the instructions to build an ark in order to preserve life from the coming judgment. What a man of faith Noah must have been since it had never rained upon the earth before. God’s word tells us that Noah was a blameless man, the only righteous man that God could find upon the whole earth. The waters fell from heaven for forty days and forty nights. Every mountain was covered and all life was gone. God had purged the earth from sin and was starting over again with Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, along with all the living creatures God told him to bring aboard the ark. It took many days before the water receded enough that Noah and his family could get off the ark. It had been a year since they had boarded the ark, and finally God gives the word for them to go out. Can you imagine that moment?
What would they find once they got off? How would they survive in a new world? Where were they? How would they start over again and live with the loss of the rest of their family, loved ones, friends and neighbors? Would it be safe? How would the world look now that it had been destroyed with water? The pressure that Noah must have felt knowing he had been entrusted with all life upon the ark. No doubt, fear of the unknown was one of Noah’s worst enemies, but we begin to see a most beautiful picture when we find where God landed the ark. HE settled it upon the top of Mount Ararat! Hallelujah! God had taken HIS people through the worst storm in the history of man and put them on top of a mountain, Glory! Sometimes the Lord will take us through a storm in order to move us to higher ground; a place elevated above all that is familiar and earthly, so HE can start us on a new path. If we could only see during the storm that God wants to take us HIGHER, all the way to the top of the mountain that we may grow spiritually!
Walking with God and following HIS instruction means leaving the familiar, our ark of safety and moving on to uncharted territory. There are times it means moving from stability to having to trust because you don’t know what’s coming next; it’s going from having everything settled to everything uprooted and ripped out from under you. It’s surrendering everything dear to you in order to please God and be all that HE intends for you to be. Maybe you are at the door and not sure what is waiting for you if you step out of the boat and trust God by faith. God has brought you through a time where everything has been stripped away, washed out from under you and now it’s just you and God and you have a decision to make. HE has carried you through the storm to bring you out to a new place; a new life and HE will not fail you. My friend, if you don’t know where to begin, begin where Noah did. He stepped out in God’s timing and he built an altar and worshipped God in the new place where God lead him. Today, would you get out of the boat and step out in faith and worship the Lord where you are? Offer up to HIM a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for bringing you through the storm, and placing you on a mountain top and giving you an opportunity to prove HIM and trust HIM. What a faithful God we serve!
Bro. Lawrence Longworth Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
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