Heb. 11:7   By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

How many times have we said lately “We are in uncharted territory.  We’ve never experienced anything like this before.”  We watch the news and see the number of cases increasing and the number of deaths continually climbing and we get “cabin fever” from being confined at home.  Did you ever stop to think what it must have been like in Noah’s day if television news had been part of their lives?  Early on there would probably have been stories about this guy building a big boat in his back yard with no way to transport it to the lake.  Then there would have been the doomsday scoffers saying “can you imagine this guy saying that the whole earth will be destroyed by a flood?”

Probably next they would have noticed the strange gathering of animals coming to Noah’s house and getting on his big boat.  Can you imagine the jokes and laughter people must have gotten out of that?  They probably talked about how he must have been planning to make an indoor zoo.  Then the work stopped and Noah went in and closed the door.  For a week they probably reported that all was quiet down at Noah’s place, and they probably wondered how Noah was making it cooped up with all those animals—and then the rain started! 

I’m not suggesting that this is anything like the world-wide flood.  But the comforting thing for us to know is that the same God who was in control then and was working out His purposes is in control now.  Hopefully He is not using a virus to do today what He did with a flood in Noah’s day—but the important thing for us is to maintain our faith in that God so that we can become heirs of righteousness like Noah was.  Just know this—God will never bring us to something that He cannot also bring us through.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, as we face uncertain days and unusual situations, may we ever keep our trust in You, the unchanging Creator and Sustainer of life.  Let us know that You are with us here, but You didn’t make us to live here forever—You made us to have a relationship with You and to live with You eternally.  Let us face every day with the assurance that You are in control.  Regardless of what may happen in our day to day world, You already know what lies beyond this because You are already there.  May we walk daily in this world hand in hand with You, knowing that we are heirs of righteousness who will inherit the riches You have prepared for us.