City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ² The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

Genesis 8:1-19 (ESV)

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27:14 (ESV)

“After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him.’”

Matthew 3:16-17 (TLB)

Megan’s Musings

Noah and his family were on the ark for one year and ten days (anyone who had to stay home during the pandemic can relate). If the song Waiting is the Hardest Part by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had existed back then, Noah would have banned it because he would be tired of hearing it on repeat. 

When the tops of mountains were visible, Noah sent a raven and a dove to see whether the land was dry. Why these two? Why was the raven first? Ravens can survive off fish and dead animals, while doves eat seeds, fruits, and plants. If the raven did not return, he had found a place to roost. But that only meant he could live on the highest mountaintop, or even on top of the ark where hardly anyone could see him. Noah wanted to see the progress of the receding flood, I’m sure he and his family had extreme cabin fever, maybe some family problems were coming to light (put an extended family together for a long time and it becomes like a reality TV show), or their food supplies were running out. The family needed hope. 

Then Noah sent a dove, hoping there would be vegetation. First round, she came back. Noah didn’t get impatient and send her out again, he waited seven days and then sent the dove out a second time. She came back with a fresh olive leaf. The fact the dove came back from her roosting place was from God, He gave Noah and his family hope. The dove was sent out a third time and did not return, signifying there was sufficient plant life to sustain her. The period of waiting was almost over (reminds me of 2020, news of Pfizer and Moderna gave us hope). 

During Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and God blessed His Son. It was done publicly, in front of John’s followers, curious onlookers, even Pharisees and Sadducees. They all saw and heard the Promised Messiah, the millennia of waiting was over, He would bring peace and hope to all who accepted Him and what He was about to do. They were about to leave the ark and come to the Promised Land.

Application

What are you waiting and hoping for? God doesn’t intend for waiting to be passive, but active. Active waiting is different for every person and every situation: prayer (definitely for everybody), brushing up on interviewing skills, researching different career paths, babysitting your friends’ children to prepare for your own upcoming family. What is active waiting for you?

Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to actively wait for what You have in store for me. In Your Name I pray, amen.