Shut In – Day 319: A Birthday with a View

If you have been following along since last February 17^th, you may remember how I used that date to start tracking with Noah on the Ark – all because of this verse found in the history of Genesis 7:11:

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month…” And thus began the global flood, signs of which are still clearly seen by scientists the world over.

Well, today’s date has special significance in this journey as well.

“By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth.” – Genesis 8:13

Now I obviously know that our calendar was not in existence at the time of the flood. Nor do I think Noah was likely a “New Year’s Baby.” But I am grateful for how specific this historical account is when laying out the timeline – even if it can only allow us to count within the days of the life of one specific man. After all, he was the ancestor of every human being on earth since then, so I’d say his life was rather important!

So, how did Noah celebrate this monumental birthday? Not with a special cake and candles.

Instead: “Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.”

And that is all we know until nearly 2 months later!

If we had been Noah, mightn’t we have been tempted to get out of that ark? After being shut in for 319 days, the sight of dry land coming weeks after the dove brought back a fresh, green leaf seems like it's about time, right?

But Noah knew God better than that. God had shut him in, and He could wait for God to let Him out.

So how about the things that “shut us in”? Can we trust that God’s timing is perfect? That even if we could possibly “get out” from our circumstances, we would not be satisfied or safe “out there” until the time is right?

Instant relief from trouble or instant healing is not God’s plan for everyone. [See the apostle Paul’s account in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, for example.]

God is working all the while. Wait on Him.

 

photo from last February while we were shut out of our home more than a week, waiting for professional mold remediation to be completed

See previous posts in series here:

Part I: The Lord Shut Him In
Part II: Day 10: The Animals
Part III: Day 20: The Man Noah
Part IV: Day 30: The Walls
Part V: Day 40: What God Says... He Does
Part VI: Day 70: After the Crisis
Part VII: Day 100: When Waiting Turns to Years
Part VIII: Day 150: Touch Down!
Part IX: Day 181: Survival Mode while Shut In
Part X: Day 227: Land, Ho!
Part XI: Day 267: Testing the Waters
Part XII: Day 281: Giving Thanks for Signs of Hope