Jump Start # 3176
Genesis 8:1 “Then God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.”
Noah and the ark. What an incredible story of faith, love, justice and the grace of God. Noah had been in the ark sometime when our verse takes place. Then God remembered. Interesting expression. Then God remembered. Are we to conclude that God had forgotten? Maybe God got so busy doing other things that Noah just slipped His mind? Did an angel tap the Lord on the shoulder and say, “What about Noah?” Was Noah like a child left at the church building?
Some thoughts for us:
First, God doesn’t forget. He’s not like us. He doesn’t need to be reminded. He’s not so busy that less important things are shoved to another date and time. Not God. I expect Noah and his family were praying to God every day. Did God hear those prayers? Was that not a simple way to know where they were? God did not have to pull out a map and find where the ark was. God knew. He always knew.
Keeping everyone alive in the ark for that long time involved some incredible actions by the Lord. Food, water, waste—that alone was a task that a fleet of engineers could not figure out. The hand of the Lord was with them the entire time.
And, the same can be said of us. God remembers you. God knows your situation and what you day was like. God hasn’t forgotten you. You do not have to wear name tags or reintroduce yourself to the Lord. He knows. He always knows.
Second, the concept of “remembering” is about a covenant. God made a promise to Noah and the Lord was fulfilling and keeping that promise. When God promised Abraham a child and twenty-five years later it was fulfilled, God had not forgotten. It was all according to His timetable and His divine plans.
Many modern writers try to define God like one of us. I don’t want a God like us. We forget. We change our minds. We make promises and don’t keep them. We make a mess of things. I want a God bigger, better and more righteous than we are. Making God as one of the good ole’ boys doesn’t help us. It insults God and leaves us in a world of trouble. Our God is big and powerful and eternal. He is not like us. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. He keeps it according to His timetable and not ours.
Third, the remembering of Noah was the keeping of His promise. Noah was kept alive by God. Noah endured because of God. I expect the first couple of days in the ark would be exciting for most of us. But it wouldn’t take long until those walls seem real confining, the smells too strong, and the desire to get outside too great for most of us. Noah was on a divine mission. This wasn’t his idea. This wasn’t his plan. This was all according to the Lord.
God has made a promise to us. He promises to forgive us. He promises to take us home to Him. He promises to be with us. These promises are built around our relationship with Him. God doesn’t need to be reminded of these promises. He knows. He remembers.
When Hezekiah was told to set his house in order because he was soon to die, he prayed, Lord, remember how I walked with you.” Nehemiah ends with the words, “remember me for good.” You don’t have to convince God of your good deeds. He knows them. Even the cup of cold water that was given to another is seen, remembered and recorded in Heaven.
God remembered Noah. The sad truth is that there are times that we may forget God. Caught up in the moment of temptation, in the heat of anger, chasing the carrot of materialism, God can be very far from our thoughts. The early disciples were told to let the word of Christ richly dwell within them. Don’t forget. Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget where you are headed. Don’t forget what you are supposed to do.
God will remember…but will we?
Roger