My, Didn't it Rain?!

Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth.  You can read the history in the book of Genesis, chapters 6-9. Noah and his family boarded the ark and God shut the door. For 40 days, the waters rose upon the earth, flooding everything and causing the ark to rise higher and higher above the mountain tops. What must it have been like for Noah and his family to open the window in the ark and see nothing but water upon the earth.  No land, no houses, no trees, no flowers, no animals, no birds...nothing existed upon the earth except Noah, his family, and all of the animals that had been taken into the ark. I can't imagine what that would be like.

Since moving to the Southwest, we have been introduced to Monsoon Season, the period of time

from June through September when several inches of rain can be dropped on the earth in a very short period of time. Here in the desert, the water has nowhere to go--the ground does not absorb the water--it just runs everywhere. We have watched our street flood while trashcans float down the road; floodwaters rise halfway up our driveway and we wonder if it will ever stop. It's quite amazing and a bit scary at times.

When the earth flooded in Noah's time, God made a promise to Noah: "Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:11, New International Version) To solidify this promise, God set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant between God and Noah and all of the generations after Noah.  "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." (Genesis 9:13, NIV)

The recent flooding in Louisiana may cause us to question this promise, but we have to remember that God is still in control. Satan has the freedom to roam the earth until Jesus comes again, but God is our strength, and we can turn to Him for comfort in adversity.