God Remembers [Genesis 8]
1But 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.
15Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16"Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17"Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
18So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. 20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
22"While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease."
"And God remembered Noah." I have been thinking about that phrase off and on all day. Here is a situation in which God put Noah and his family. I am sure it has been a very long five months in the ark. Everyone has been stretched beyond what they have ever thought they could be. "And God remembered Noah." This is full of meaning. There is a sense that God remembered him every moment of the long five months. Noah was not forgotten - God remembered him.
Noah knew that God remembered him and his first response was to worship God. When God smelled the aroma of the sacrifices Noah offered, it brought Him pleasure. He made a promise to "never again destroy every living thing, as I have done."
You are a God who remembers. You never forget us and You never forget our situation. Cause us to know this about You today and worship You with our whole heart, soul and mind.
Verna McCrillis, 2/22/2010