Redemption is the act of redeeming something that has been lost. The redeemer reclaims the object for its original purpose. There is no more significant example of redemption than that of Noah and his family being saved from destruction through the means of the ark. The flood in Genesis was an act of God, and it destroyed everything that was not in the ark. The waters were a raging chaos, and yet the ark survived the 40-day-storm. Though the ark was hurled to and fro by the gigantic waves, it miraculously preserved the lives of everyone inside. The story of Noah and the flood is an incredible story of redemption. Noah was saved by faith in a redeemer God. We need redemption! We need the same kind of redemption that Noah experienced, redemption from judgment. Then we need redemption of our faculties and bodies that belong to God. God created us to serve him.
The narrative says, “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” (Gen 8:1). When God remembered Noah, the earth had already been flooded for 150 days or five months. Five months in that ark with Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives and all the animals had finally ended. The seasickness, the darkness that hid the sun, the constant care of the animals including the cleaning of the stables was at last over. That could not have been a pleasant journey, and Noah and his family were at last ready to get out of the ark. However, there was still more waiting ahead for them.
Noah waited for God in anticipation for the moment to leave the ark. After forty days of waiting where the ark had come to rest, Noah sent out a raven that did not return. Then he sent out a dove two different times and received it back twice. He waited a week between each release of the dove. Finally, after the third week of waiting, the dove was released again but this time did not return. Noah and his family had been waiting over two months after the ark had come to rest. They listened each day and night to the howling wind that seemed incessant, and still, they remained.
Most of faith is merely plodding forward every day with our responsibilities. Often it can be monotonous, but still, we refuse to give up. Marriage can be tough; parenting difficult, work demanding, and even going to church can be challenging. Faith means we keep doing what we know is right even when it seems like nothing is happening. That is what Noah did during the long and grueling ride in the ark. Five months with his family and the animals in the ark tried his patience. Two of those months after the ark had come to rest, were spent listening to the wind and waiting. Faith says, even though I can’t see anything happening, I know you are working things out according to your will and I want to be part of that will. Even in the wind, God was preparing a new world for Noah. Never give up! Never stop believing that God is at work!
