Genesis 7:16 "And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in."
I feel sure most of you are familiar with the story of the flood. In the sixth chapter of Genesis starting with verse thirteen we see the beginning of this remarkable event. God had given man 120 years to repent of his ungodliness (Genesis 6:3). Rather than repent, man became more wicked.
Noah, having found grace in the eyes of the LORD, was saved along with his wife, his three sons, and their wives. God chose this little remnant out of all the people on the earth. He gave Noah very specific instructions, and Noah heeded the voice of God. When the flood started with that first drop of water, God shut this remnant in the ark. When God closed that door, no one else was coming in and no one was going out.
How often has God preserved you or those you love in astonishing ways? Sometimes it takes a long season for His purpose to be fulfilled. We get so focused on the fact that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights that we forget Noah and his generations were sealed up in that ark for over a year. God protected and God provided through a very difficult time.
When the ark finally came to rest on dry ground again, everything had changed. As God works His will in our lives, we often find ourselves feeling shut in. As with the ark, the only way to look is up. God preserves and protects, and He provides even when it appears to us that nothing is as it one was. God’s work is always righteous.