God Remembered

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him…And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood…Then the Lord shut him in…But God remembered Noah…” Genesis 7:5, 7, 16 & 8:1

Several years ago, my husband was without a job. I needed major surgery. Our three-year-old daughter needed surgery. It was a time of uncertainty.

We were following the Lord, serving Him and giving faithfully, but times of trouble still came. I remember so clearly when my husband walked through the door with a box of his things at lunchtime and said he was going back to clean out his office. His boss had told him he was no longer needed. We had two small children and we weren’t certain what we were going to do.

We were blessed that my husband had been meticulous about saving, but we didn’t know how long the money would have to last. Having big medical bills on top of the usual expenses didn’t help any.

A favorite Bible study leader of mine calls times like this “Noah’s Ark experiences.” Yes, Noah and his family were all safe within the ark while “all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens opened…” The waters raged without and rose above the mountain tops and it was probably not exactly smooth sailing. It must have been downright frightening at times.

Sometimes we are allowed to go through rough storms in life and there is nothing to do but ride it out trusting in the promises of God.

I am certain a part of the comfort Noah’s family had was remembering God, Himself, had shut the door. They knew He had put them into the ark and trusted He would save them. They really didn’t have much choice.

Sometimes we do have the choice of whether or not to trust God to bring us safely through our storms. We can get ourselves in real messes when we decide to go it on our own.

We have to learn that when God shuts the door, He isn’t shutting us in and Himself out. He is in there with us. After several months God brought us out of our storm and provided everything we needed in the midst of it.

What storm are you facing?

This world is full of uncertainties, but we can be certain God is with us. He will remember us. Whatever your situation, choose to believe God is right there with you and will bring you through safely.

© Copyright, Norma Thurston Holtman August 9, 2011

About the author:

Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, released in April 2014. She led women’s Bible studies for over 21 years. Her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, FaithWriters, Romance Writers of America, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 39 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NormaGailwrites

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas Bookstore: http://store.lpcbooks.com/product/land-of-my-dreams/

In Hope

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known… Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. Habakkuk 3:2, 17-19

There are times in life that are hard—illness, loss of a job, death of a loved one, the list goes on and on. Hope fades to a faint glow, which threatens to go out at the slightest breeze. Just making it through the day is a challenge.

Habakkuk wrote his prophecy in the time of Jeremiah and Zephaniah, prophesying about the same events, the time of the Chaldeans and their ruin of Jerusalem. In spite of the terrible prophesies, Habakkuk speaks of God delivering His people and saving His anointed one. Here is great spiritual truth: even in the darkest night, when everything seems lost, God never leaves His people without hope.

When struggle dominates our days and pain consumes our nights, it is difficult to see anything promising on the horizon. Yet time and again, scripture reveals God’s promise of better things to come. Noah and his family entrusted their lives to the Lord when He sent them into the ark. Abraham looked forward when he left his home in Ur and headed for a place he knew nothing about. When it seemed his suffering had no end, Job proclaimed his certainty of seeing God. Paul and Silas believed when they sang songs of praise in a Philippian jail. Martyrs have died in hope through two thousand years of Christianity.

Hebrews 11 gives us a glorious history of God’s faithful who did not receive the promise in their lifetime, but died believing and Paul writes that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

In times of struggle, it is good to have a prayer journal of God’s answers throughout our lives and notes in our Bible margins recording the dates when God fulfilled His promises. We are never told to expect that all our prayers will be answered within our lifetimes, but we are promised God’s strength and the power to endure hardship through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

When caught in life’s trials, I remember the goodness of God as evidenced in His word; His love and the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. I have all the power that raised Christ from the dead within me. How can I not have hope?

© Copyright by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, November 7, 2015

About the author:

Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, released in April 2014. She has led weekly women’s Bible studies for 20 years. Her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, FaithWriters, Romance Writers of America, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 39 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NormaGailwrites

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2 

Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-my-dreams-norma-gail/1119606864?ean=9781941103173

Perseverance Produces Hope

 

“Are you sure you want only pepperoni—no mushrooms?” I asked my four-year-old son a third time as we made our way through a cafeteria style pizza restaurant tucked into a corner of a department store. 

He shook his head. “Pepperoni.” He pointed to the already-baked pizza behind the glassed-in counter. 

I paid for our meal, and we headed to a table to eat. I lifted him from the shopping cart, sat him in a chair, and placed his food in front of him.

His little face clouded, eyebrows creased. Bewildered, he asked, “Where’s my mushrooms?”

“You didn’t want mushrooms.” 

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Did, too.” 

Frustrated, I tried to explain how I’d asked him three times about his pizza choice, but he turned a deaf ear to me. He wasn’t going to believe me when his brain thought otherwise. Finally, he picked up the pizza and began to eat. 

Welcome to my life. I wish I could say this was a rare occurrence, but it wasn’t. Dealing with a preschooler with a short-term memory deficit made even the simplest tasks difficult at times. And this was only one of the developmental issues that challenged him. 

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5a (NIV)

Sometimes I found it difficult to be hopeful when I’d shuttle my son back and forth to speech or occupational therapy several times a week. I didn’t understand what I do now—in order to experience the real hope that comes from above, I had to grow through the other steps first. Despite my occasional feelings of despair about my son’s future, God poured out His love during this trial of uncertainty, which gave me enormous strength to persevere.

Fifteen years later, my son is a volunteer firefighter and a freshman in college. For the most part, he overcame his short-term memory problem and worked hard to eliminate his other developmental issues. Now he’s just a normal forgetful teen like many other kids his age. J 

We’re not guaranteed favorable outcomes for our problems. But in persevering through trials, we grow, develop character, and experience the full depth of God’s hope. 

What difficult trial are you experiencing? Place your faith in the One who comforts with the promise of hope. 


Laura Hodges Poole is a freelance writer with dozens of articles, devotions, and short stories in publication. She writes Christian romance novels and is a 2012 RWA Emily finalist, with her Christian novel manuscript placing second in a nationwide field of Christian and secular entries. Laura is also an Associate Editor with Christian Devotions ministry, as well as a ghostwriter. Her passion is encouraging others in their Christian walk through her blog, "A Word of Encouragement." She may be contacted at laurapoole565@gmail.com.




Pepperoni Pizza image courtesy of Kittikun Atsawintarangkul/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Hope Puzzle image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.