Sardis-Message from Pastor Santos for June 28th
C MESSAGE 14 – GENESIS 8:1-5 28/06/20
I am sure all of us know the story of Noah’s ark and the flood. God told Noah to build an ark and to take his family and all types of animals into the ark because He was going to flood the earth. After many days of torrential rain the opening words in chapter 8 are ‘but God remembered Noah’. Noah and his family were in the ark for many weeks and they did not know what sort of world they would find once the deluge was over. For sure he must have thought to himself it will be a different world. They did not know where he ark was going to land, they did not know what they would find once they stepped out of the ark. What about visiting friends and families? What about their houses? What about?? This ‘what about’ must have reoccurred to him again and again. As much as Noah tried to figure things out one thing he knew for sure ‘God had already figured all of them out. Talking to people, everybody is trying to imagine how life will be after all of this Covid19 is over. Of course like everybody else, my imagination runs wild, however even though I do not know what is ahead, I know who does – God.
When the bible tells us God remembered Noah, it does not mean that God had a lapse of mind and suddenly it occurred to Him that Noah was in the ark. It means the time was right for Him to allow Noah and his family and all the animals to come out from the ark. God started working things out for Noah, and all of those with him in the ark to come out and face a new reality. Can you see? God understands everything about ‘lockdown’. Noah was locked down in an ark, Joseph in a prison in Egypt, David and his men in a cave when running from Saul, Daniel in the lions’ den, Lazarus in a tomb, Paul in a prison in Rome etc. Many great servants of God have been in lockdown. God was with all of them all the time. It is no time to lose heart or to despair – because God is with us in this lockdown.
I can reassure you that God has not forgotten about you or about your situation. God remembered Noah and He remembers you. I am not a very nostalgic person and for sure we cannot live in the past or in the future. Nonetheless it is healthy for us to recall in our minds again and again the times God has rescued us in the past and how He changed everything around. For sure God will make a way where there seems to be no way. We know the story of the crossing of the Red Sea – the Israelites could not go anywhere and God made a way where there seemed to be no way.
We are the people of God, we belong to Him, we are in His mind, God has not forgotten us. At the present moment I am reading a book which Richard Preedy gave me. It is about the history of Christianity. There were times when things were truly desperate and then ‘God remembered His people’. It is a wonderful thing to have faith at a time such is this, we know what we know, od remembers us. In the same way that he rescued Noah and his family, God will rescue us. We are not going through life just expecting that after death we will see Him. Of course we have great expectations once our lives upon this earth are over, however till then, we the people of God are going to see Him rescuing us many times over ,because He remembers us.
Noah and his family were in the ark for many weeks and they did not have a satnav, or the news on the TV, or could listen to the radio, or go for a walk, they did not know where they were going to end up but they knew that God was with them. It is so wonderful to know that God is with us, and He will sustain us and He will see us through. We need to be careful not to allow the news we hear on the TV and other means of communication to deafen God’s voice. Please be well informed, but in the midst of such great uncertainty it is the voice of God which will guide us, and reassure us, ‘it is ok’. He says – I know where and how you are – I remember you’.
Noah built the ark, but the captain of it was God. The ark was floating aloof for many days and nights, it was drifting away, Noah had never been in a boat before. The ark was just floating, it did not have the mechanism necessary to be piloted. It did not have a steering wheel or a rudder, it was just floating and floating, but God knew where He was taking it. At the moment it could well be you find yourself a bit at lost, and everything you knew and gave you a sense of security and belonging is not there anymore. You feel like you are just floating on the ocean of life, well, Noah has been there and God had His eye on Noah and his family all the time. God remembered Noah and God remembers you. He will help you, landing safely. Some times you get upset because people had forgotten about you and let you down – well the good news is ‘God remembers you’. God bless
PS. Many thanks to all of those who got involved with “24 Hours of Prayers for the Nations”, it went very well and we were able of covering the 195 nations of the world. We had people from South Korea, Kenya, Nigeria, UK, Brazil, New Zealand, America praying with us. We just did not pray for the nations we pray with the nations. Keep praying at least once a week for the nations you prayed for last weekend.
Pastor Fortunato Santos
