LIFE SCRIPTS

After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
Genesis 8:6‭-‬10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.8.6-10.NIV

The desolate and lonely earth looked so destroyed and defeated. A lone ark floated over the vastness of it’s surface. The state of the earth just after the flood mirrored what is written in Genesis 1:1-2. In Genesis 1, God’s presence was manifested through His Spirit (hovering over the surface of the deep). Here, a small remnant were floating over the surface of the deep and destructive waters brought about by divine judgement. God had manifested Himself through judging the earth. Soon, after the waters receded, Noah and family would be used of God to initiate a new generation on earth. In these verses, Noah begins by sending a raven to check on the status of land. The bird moved to and fro aimlessly since there was no land in sight because the water hadn’t receded fully. Later on, he sent a dove repeatedly after which it returned again and again because it had nowhere to perch. It was not yet God’s time for them to venture out. Interestingly, God, who had instructed him to enter the ark was yet to instruct him the leave the ark. Noah’s responsibility was to tarry in His presence. At times, all indications might seem to affirm our next move. However, even though it looks so, do we wait for God to instruct us to go? The rain has stopped. The waters from the deep had ceased. The sky was clear. Yet Noah still tarried in the ark waiting for instructions to leave. But even if he had decided to leave, there was a barrier…the water. This was probably a sign God was using to show him that it’s not yet time to come out. Are there barriers that God allows in our lives even as we tarry in His presence? They may be temporary or even permanent barriers. They might look contrary to our expectations but God has allowed them for a purpose…His purposes. We might be on course to do the right thing. However, we must remain sensitive to God’s timing. If Noah didn’t, imagine how disastrous it would have been.