Find the Grace

Hello! If you’re watching this, it means that I have had or am currently having my first child and we’re excited about that. But I wanted make sure that I had an opportunity to share a message that relates to this upcoming month’s Bible story.

You’ll notice that I am recording this in my home office. The last time I was here recording devotionals was last year during lockdown. But now here in February, we found ourselves confined to our homes, not because of a virus this time, but because of absurd amounts of snow.

I’m recording this on Tuesday February 16th, the day that the daycare closed because of the snow. And as I thought about this snow day, I thought about how perfectly it relates to the story we are going to be teaching our children in March.

The story is Noah’s Ark. And I will spare you the long reading of all that is behind this story, but if you haven’t read it out of the Bible from the beginning, let me just say that it’s not exactly what you think. There’s spiritual beings falling from heaven and giants and lots of weird crazy stuff happening. But I’ll leave you to read it for yourself.

The fact of the matter is that God thought it was weird and crazy too. A little to weird and crazy. Evil was spreading throughout the world like wildfire.

Scripture tells us that God was so distraught that He regretted making humans. Did you know God could have regret? But more than that, his heart was deeply troubled. And God could only think of one solution to the problem.

To wipe everyone off the face of the earth and start over.

That’s his solution. But to us, this God doesn’t sound likable at all! Here is this great and powerful God and yet this is his only solution? To just destroy everything and start over?

But there’s an asterisk to God’s plan. A foot note. The fine print.

God says I’m going to destroy everything. But…

Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

There was one man who was righteous. He didn’t fall into the traps of evil like the rest of the world. And so God says, I want to blot out everyone in the world, but I want to start over with you Noah.

And we all know the rest of the story. Despite the jests and jeers of those around him. People thinking he’s crazy, Noah builds this great ark and loads it up with animals and his family. And He waits out a storm of apocalyptic proportions.

Noah and his family go into lockdown for days on end. And we know what that looks like. I’m sure throughout the course of their time in the ark, there was a loss of hope. I’m sure they wondered if it would ever come to an end. I’m sure they saw their food supply running low, the ark growing dirty, and they thought they were bound to death along with the rest of humanity.

But finally, it stops raining and it seems like they’ve reached the other side of this disaster.

And what does Noah do?

Scipture tells us that every few days, He send a bird out from the ark. He sent them out to see if they could find any dry land. But time after time, the birds returned to the ark unable to find a place to perch.

But then, one day, Noah sends out a dove and it returns to ark just like all the others, but this one has an olive leaf in its beak. Finally hope!

And the story ends when Noah sends out a bird that does not return. And finally Noah brings the ark to dry land. God gives Noah a rainbow and promises never to flood the world again.

The end.

So what does this story have to do with us.

Well, to most people hearing this story, Christians and non-christians alike, this story sounds like bad news. God grew so sick and tired of humans that he just killed them all off.

That doesn’t sound like a God I’d want to serve.

And that would be true that would be the case, if God didn’t show grace and spare Noah and his family.

That makes all the difference. This shows a very different god. A god who doesn’t insist on wiping out the human race out of divine anger and judgement. But it shows a God who wishes to do away with evil but still insists on being bound by immense love and grace.

So here’s what the story of Noah shows us. No matter how dire your circumstance. No matter how bad things get. No matter what floods fill your life. As Christ-followers and believers in the God of Noah, we have to set our eyes above the flood and FTG.

FIND THE GRACE.

We cannot allow the floods of life to distract us from the life bringing grace filled acts of God that are around every corner! Somewhere in the midst of your circumstances God is revealing his grace. We have to be diligent in finding it.

Like Noah, we have to send out our birds day after day, in search for how God is working. Where do we see his blessing? Where do we see his hand at work? And let me tell you. Some days it may seem as if your bird come back empty handed. Or empty beaked. But we have to keep looking. Keep sending them out. Keep searching. Because I can promise you. God is working! He is blessing. His grace is at work.

We just have to FIND THE GRACE.

What am I not saying. I’m not saying God is the one sending the floods into your life. I don’t believe we serve a God who sends personal attacks from heaven. God is good but sometimes life is not.

I’m also not saying that this all about just being postive. It’s not just looking on the bright side.

FINDING the GRACE is so much more. It’s realizing that your God is fighting for you. That he is with you in even the worst of circumstances. It’s realizing that there’s a reason to praise in the midst of the flood. That our God doesn’t shrink back in the midst of our suffering but instead he dives in head first and gets his hands dirty.

There’s grace at work somewhere. While I’m stuck at home today, it gave me the opportunity to take a walk with my wife. It was dealthy cold but we put on layer after layer and it was worth it! And we watched the sun rise and fall onto the snow. It gave us an opptunity to thank God for eachtoehr, for the baby on the way, and for the beauty of creation. Find the grace.

But sometimes it requires you bundle up. Put on your snow boots. Send out a dove. Again and again and again. Search it out. Find the grace. Praise and worship him. Because here’s here and he’s goood.