Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts

Three Altars



This year one thing I’ve purposed to do is read the entire Bible through again. I have done this many times in years gone by. But life happens and things change and I although I’ve read, I haven’t read it through in a year in a long time. As always, different things stand out. I’m three days in, three altars have been built each day I’ve read. I noted the first two, but when there was one in today’s passage, it caused me to pause and think.

The first altar mentioned in the Bible is right after the flood. When Noah and his family exited the ark, he built an altar. God’s response to this act of worship was to make a covenant with Noah and promise to never destroy the earth again with floods.

The second altar mentioned was built by Abraham in Geneses 12:7. The Lord had spoken to him to leave his family and he headed for Canaan. Once Abraham reached the Oak of Moreh, God appeared to him and promised him that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham built an altar in response. He then continued to travel on to camp between Bethel and Ai. This time he built an altar with no purpose attached except to call on the name of the Lord.

It seems to me that every time these heroes of faith moved or went through, they built an altar in worship. What can we as common caregivers take away from that? First off, I’m not suggesting going out in your backyard and building an altar! Lol. But I believe an altar represents to us on this side of the New Covenant a dedicated place of worship. As caregivers, every day we “go through.” Each day we face often seemingly insurmountable odds. But we are still in the game. We are still pushing forward, still pursuing Him. That’s monumental enough to merit an altar – in our hearts.

Today, I purpose to build an altar in my heart, a dedicated place of worship to thank God for His continuing promises to me, those ones that didn’t expire when I became a caregiver. I’ll turn my thoughts and my heart toward worship today in a new way as I let my heart become the altar and my life become the sacrifice, even in the midst of the mess. I’ll be thankful I can still worship in spirit, in purity, and in truth and rejoice that life’s circumstances cannot take that away. My heart will bow before Him today as I thank Him for one more day to serve and trust Him. Will you join me?


When You Can't See

I had the opportunity to take Chris and go speak at a lady's group over the weekend. My talk started and ended with Hebrews 11. So yesterday I sat down to reread the chapter and verse 7 caught my attention. It basically says that Noah did all the things God told him to by faith. And he did those things without understanding or seeing the details.

Prior to the flood, there had been no rain but a mist came up from the earth to water the ground. (Genesis 2:6) So Noah didn't even know what rain looked  or felt like. He also had never seen anything like an ark. But he went forward in faith even though he hadn't seen what God was talking about.

As a caregiver I've found that at times it's just difficult to see. Prior to this I had very little knowledge of what caregiving was and certainly had no idea how it played out in a life. But caregiving itself also made it difficult for me to see what God was doing in and with my life. Many times we just move forward without seeing the path before us. For me, I have to assume that the rest of my life looks like this.

Noah continued to follow God and obey His commands even though he had no idea of how it was going to play out in real life. That's all we can do too. Noah also had no idea of what to expect during or after the flood. He just kept following. Even though the flood ended and they eventually crawled out of the ark, they came out to a new world and they still had to rebuild everything. Noah didn't step out of the ark to a brand new city that was already built just waiting for his family to inhabit. They survived the flood - but there was still lots of work to do. They literally had to start rebuilding everything all over again.

So I have this mental picture of Noah standing outside the ark, looking from side to side at another new world. He may have felt unsure of where and how to start over. He might have wondered what in the world they were going to do. So where did he start? He built an altar and declared that God was still his God!

When I first began caregiving to say it was a new world would be an understatement! We do adjust to new normals but I'm not sure that it ever actually gets easy. Sometimes it feels like the old movie Groundhog Day where one day just repeats itself over and over and over.... It can also feel like exiting the ark into a new world is an everyday occurrence. It's okay - we can build an altar in our heart - every day if we need to; and declare that He is still our God. No matter what the world looks like, how empty or bare it appears, or how often we feel we have to start over, we can start each day with the truth that He will always be God. Our situation does not influence His standing as the remaining King.

Today I am building an altar in my heart and declaring that through the storm - He is still my God. I'll embrace this day acknowledging that whatever I face can't and won't dethrone the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. My thoughts will be on His eternal kingdom and reign as I hand Him my heart one more time. Will you join me in celebrating His Kingship today?

Committed to the Journey

The last few days we've been looking at three men of faith: Job, Noah, and Daniel. These are three of my Bible heroes along with many others. But these three men are mentioned together in Ezekiel 14. Twice, the Lord told Ezekiel that if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land they would be delivered through righteousness. They couldn't "delver" anyone else, but they would be saved if the land was destroyed. I have spent much time pondering why He listed these three men.

What happened to Abraham, the friend of God? What about David, the man after God's own heart? Why not Moses, the one with whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to his friend? What made Job, Noah and Daniel's stories so unique that God said these three men could deliver their own soul by their righteousness? Their situations were not similar, neither were their trials. Actually, all three faced difficult adversities of very different types. Like the caregiver has to do many times, they faced them alone.

Daniel stood by faith while he was a captive in a foreign land, Noah stood by faith in a wicked generation, and Job stood alone in the face of losing everything. No one could do it for them; and no one can carry your load for you either. Oh it's nice when someone comes to walk alongside you and it really helps to have friends or family along for the ride. But no one can do the caregiving for you. Like these three men of faith we must live what we know - we must live by faith whether we do it alone, or if others are with us on this journey.

We must be committed to the journey. The three men listed here in Ezekiel were committed to the journey of faith and they didn't let life's trials detour them. We as caregivers must be adamant about our journey of faith as well. I've found that it's not so much that I am keeping the faith; but rather it's faith that's keeping me. Our job as caregivers is a difficult one no matter what particulars we deal with each day. But we must keep putting one foot in front of the other, walking by faith. Sometimes we cannot see exactly where we are going and there certainly is no end in sight; but by faith we continue to seek God's direction for each day and simply walk it out like Job, Noah and Daniel. They did not let go - they continued to trust even in adversity.

I admire the tenacity of these three men; and I want to model it in my own life. They rocked their world because of their faith; and we can too.

Today I will meditate on what my faith means to me. I will turn my thoughts to how I can determine to trust Him more for each step I must take today. And I will thank Him that He is with me as I am committed to this journey of faith. Will you join me?

Standing Alone?

All of our Bible heroes faced some type of adversity. The stories about how they overcame or endured that adversity is what makes them our hero, isn't it? Noah is among those listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. The writer reminds us that was warned by God about things not yet seen. Noah took a huge leap of faith to obey God and began building the ark. He faced his own circumstances and lived in a generation of people who did not believe him. As far as we can tell no one helped him build the ark and no one stood with him. According to Genesis 6, Noah lived in a very wicked generation; he most likely lived in a very lonely place.

The caregiver can live in a lonely place too. In many ways, even if we are able to get out some there are times of isolation. When we do have the joy of getting out it can look so much different than others. For me, it means dealing with my son in his chair. In some settings, that can be isolating enough - no one knows what to do with us; so they do nothing. Yesterday, we walked down to a church in our neighborhood. Only one person greeted us - the speaker. We were sitting in the back to make room for his chair as I didn't want to block an aisle. People coming in the entrance had to walk right past us to get to the seating area. Not one of them spoke to us; not one of them greeted us. The children stared and adults looked away. In that moment I felt so isolated although I was in a crowd of "believers."

Noah faced a different type of isolation in that he was ridiculed for his beliefs. He lacked people to stand with him in his pursuit of God, godliness and righteousness. But he continued to stand.In many instances, the caregiver has to stand alone much like Noah. We must hold up a standard of righteousness even though no one stands with us; and we must do it alone. But verse 8 of chapter 6 it states: Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Last week we talked some about how God's eye is on the righteous - He's watching over us. And like Noah, we have found grace in His eyes.

We are given the grace to make it one more day - whether we walk the caregiving journey alone or in a crowd. God's grace is sufficient to carry us through the toughest hours. Even those situations where no one knows quite what to do with us; His grace holds us secure in  Him.

Today I will meditate on His sustaining grace. I'll let Him worry about carrying me through today - and I won't work so hard. When I get tired, I will turn my thoughts to His mercy and grace and I will rest in Him once again. I will also meditate on the truth that I am accepted in the beloved and I won't look for man's approval. I'll just rest in His love, mercy and acceptance. Will you join me?

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...