The Soul’s Venture
Like Noah and his family, you may be shut away from all human help. It may be as impossible for you, as it was for him, to extricate yourself. You may have the responsibility of providing for those in need. Your supplies may be continually decreasing before your eyes, but God remembers you amid the waste of waters, and beneath those dark cloud-covered skies. As a mother cannot forget her sucking child, so God cannot forget you.
The Water Disappears…
But God did not forget about Noah. God remembered him and all the animals that were with him in the boat. God made a wind blow over the earth, and all the water began to disappear.
Don’t Muzzle An Animal…
“When an animal is being used to separate grain, you must not cover its mouth to stop it from eating.
The Lord Takes Care Of His Creation…
Lord, you cause water to flow from springs into the streams that flow down between the mountains. The streams provide water for all the wild animals. Even the wild donkeys come there to drink. Wild birds come to live by the pools; they sing in the branches of nearby trees. You send rain down on the mountains. The earth gets everything it needs from what you have made. You make the grass grow to feed the animals. You provide plants for the crops we grow–the plants that give us food from the earth. You give us the wine that makes us happy, the oil that makes our skin soft, and the food that makes us strong.
The great cedar trees of Lebanon belong to the LORD. He planted them and gives them the water they need. That’s where the birds make their nests, and the storks live in the fir trees. The high mountains are a home for wild goats. The large rocks are hiding places for rock badgers.
Lord, you made the moon to show us when the festivals begin. And the sun always knows when to set. You made darkness to be the night– the time when wild animals come out and roam around. Lions roar as they attack, as if they are asking God for the food he gives them. When the sun rises, they leave and go back to their dens to rest.
Getting Angry With The Lord…
If you can get upset over a plant, surely I can feel sorry for a big city like Nineveh. There are many people and animals in that city. There are more than 120,000 people there who did not know they were doing wrong.”
Worry…
Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you know you are worth much more than they are?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, strengthen me that I may look, not on the dark cloud, but for Thy rainbow; not on what Thou hast taken or withheld, but on what Thou hast left; not on the stormy waters, but on the face of Jesus. AMEN.
