In the Flow with God’s Timing – Genesis 8 Bible Devotional

Some days trying to accomplish something felt like a struggle. For me, I’m trying to create this website while helping kiddo with her studies (about me). Sounds simple enough eh? After all, no one is going to hold me accountable if it doesn’t work out. But because of how seriously I take both (this website and my kiddo’s studies), I feel a sense of tension daily to meet my goals. And those moments could quickly turn to doubting God and wondering whether His timing (or was it my timing?) was wrong.

• Did God really tell me to do this now?
• Am I going about it wrong?
• If it is God’s timing and I’m on the right track, then why does everything feel so out of sync?

In my doubting, the OCD part of me kicked in and I restarted my cover to cover reading from Genesis. (To read in order of the chapters, do go to Genesis 1, Genesis 2 and Genesis 7 bible devotions before this, and then jump back to Genesis 9.) And it was between all these trying to do one thing, meeting responsibility for the other, alternating between feelings of doubt and achievement that I read this:

Waiting for God’s Timing

Resting in God’s Timing

Being in the flow with God’s Timing

Having hope because in God we trust

Waiting for God’s Timing

God does not suffer from memory loss. Yet, there are many verses that wrote “God remembered”:

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

Genesis 8:1 (NIV)

Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.

Genesis 30:22 (NIV)

God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

Exodus 2:24 (NIV)

Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

1 Samuel 1:19 (NIV)

I looked up this ‘God remembered’ phrase when I first selected Exodus 2:24 to memorize almost two years ago. I learnt that No, God did not suffer from amnesia; when the phrase “God remembered’ is used, it is to show that now is the time when God considered it to be the right timing for Him to act. Not convinced? If you look at the verses above, God had always acted after ‘He remembered’.

Resting in God’s Timing

And so it was in my midst of conflicting and tense emotions that Genesis 8:2 came across as restful.

The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained

Genesis 8:2 (KJV)

Imagine Noah in the ark – this was in the middle of the storm and not exactly a holiday cruise. The world was being wiped out. He was in the ark that rose so high, above the highest mountains which were covered by the waters (Genesis 7:19). But when God acted, the rain stopped and there’s a sense of calm even in the midst of change.

Being in the Flow with God’s Timing

God did not tell Noah when he could get out of the ark. Noah and his family had been in the ark for 150 days, Noah had to (in a way) figure things out. Here’s what happened after 150 days:

1. The ark came to rest (Genesis 8:4)
2. The mountain tops were visible (Genesis 8:5)
3. Noah opened a window (Genesis 8:6)
4. Noah sent out a raven (Genesis 8:7)
5. Noah sent out a dove (Genesis 8:8)
6. Noah waited before sending out the dove again (Genesis 8:10)
7. Noah knew that the water had receded when the dove brought an olive leaf (Genesis 8:11)

Maybe it is just me – but I get a sense that when we trust God, we can be ‘in the flow’ with God without panicking. What Noah did was a picture of calm. He did not fret because he did not know when they could leave the ark; in total, they were in the ark for a year. Instead, he watched the signs and waited.

Having Hope because in God we trust

So it gives me hope.

That when we are undergoing change, even in a storm, God will come for us. The instructions from God may not be explicit, but things will work out because God is watching.

This is an encouragement for me, and for you. No matter what we’re going through or trying to get done, we have hope that things will work out because our hope is in the God who watches over us and acts with perfect timing.

During the week, try journaling as you pray to God about your anxieties. Share your insights in the comments so we can all be more open-minded about how God works in our lives.

Trusting in God’s Timing

Genesis 8 Journaling Prompt

What are you feeling anxious about?

What can you be grateful for during this time of change?

God, many days I feel like I’m doing wrong or not enough. Grant me a pure and patient heart so that I can come out of this with the testimony that You are with me all along and I haven’t been afraid.

Books on Waiting

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I found these books on Amazon from female authors who wrote about waiting and trust God 💪