Out With the Old

My preschool aged daughter drew fish. By age 4 she had inked so many aquatic vertebrates I had to get an accordion file to save her designs. Soon, her creativity outpaced my ability to contain. So, I sorted and stashed my favorites, stealthily sliding the rest into the trash can. Or so I thought.
 
I got caught.
 
“Mommy, one of these days you are going to have to stop throwing away things that I made.”

OUCH.  She was hurt. Although she was little, her feelings were BIG. To me they were just fish drawings; to her, they were precious. She created each one in detail, not stopping before it was good.

Consider what God may have been feeling just prior to the flood. How crushing man’s sinful ways would have been to Him.
 
In the first few chapters of Genesis, God goes from creating the world and saying it was good, very good, to regretting and changing His actions from creation to destruction. OUCH.
 
I wonder if Noah ever questioned God’s decision, perhaps thinking, “Is it really necessary to start over?”
 
Noah knew God was going to spare his family but even so, it must have been pretty scary for him as the waters burst forth from the deep and rain fell from the heavens causing the ark to tilt and groan until it was lifted from the ground.
 
The sound alone would have been terrifying, yet they made it safely through the storm to dry ground where the ark passengers began the task of repopulating the earth.
 
It is hard for me to comprehend how a creator would choose to destroy his own creation. Why would God destroy what He had previously blessed?
 
We don’t have the capacity to understand the mind of God, and friend, it is important not to get stuck here insisting on answers, lest we become guilty of pride, demanding God be accountable to our desires and solutions.
 
God is all-knowing. He is all-powerful.  And, what makes this beautiful is our loving Father always has been and always will be a promise keeper.
 
He promised, in the form of warning, that eating fruit from the tree of Knowledge would bring death. He promised Noah He would spare His family and the animals on the ark while destroying everything else that drew breath; He promised that He would never again flood the entire earth. And, He has held true to His word.
 
God’s ways of accomplishing His purpose are out of our comprehension. But, we can trust that when we obey and are surrendered to Him, there is always something new, something next, something good.
 
For God is our loving creator and, just as my daughter cared for her drawings, He put detailed thought into every stroke of His creation, including you.
 
After she saw I threw out her pictures, my daughter got more paper, a marker and went to work. Having learned from her previous hours spent at the drawing board, her new round of drawings were even better than the last. 
 
The new beginnings God has for us are not always smooth and often come in the wake of loss. Still, we can have faith that God always makes a way forward. Through death, depression, joblessness, anxiety, and fear while lost in the wilderness of life, God is with you, directing your steps.
 
Is there an area in your life where you don’t understand how God is at work? Ask Him to show you your next step forward as you continue to trust in His promises.

 Memory Verse:  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV

About the Author

Hi, I'm Martha Rudolph! I have been married for 14 years to my husband, John. We live Northwest of Atlanta with our four children. Our family is on a journey that continues to teach me about God's love and faithfulness on the mountaintop, in the valley, and everywhere in between. I love being outside, sipping coffee, and finding quiet moments to steal away and write about how God reveals Himself through the course of everyday life. Connect with Martha at her blog: www.martharudolph.weebly.com

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