God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside. GENESIS 8:1 (CSB)

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Have you ever felt like God forgot about you? Maybe that he was too busy elsewhere to pay attention to you? Maybe you even thought he didn’t really care about you all that much? This is a pretty common thought pattern. Almost everyone feels this way once in a while. 

I wonder if Noah and his family felt like that after spending such a long time on that big boat? We took a discount cruise a couple of years ago. It was nice. However, our cabin was so small that I do not think we would have enjoyed many more days in such a confined space. 

Endless waves, marooned at sea, and then a constant, blowing wind (verse 1). Could things get any worse? God’s washing and cleansing and renewal took time. The wind accelerated the drying. God was preparing Noah and Company for a brand new world even when the voyage was likely at its bumpiest and most uncomfortable. 

The Message paraphrases this verse by saying, “Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship.” One scholar wrote this about how God remembered Noah and Company:

When the Old Testament says that God remembered, it combines the ideas of faithful love and timely intervention: ‘God’s remembering always implies his movement towards the object of his memory.’
(Derek Kinder, Genesis, page 92)

When God told Noah to build that boat, it was part of his plan to begin the world anew. God did not forget his plan. He did not forget his purpose. He did not forget Noah, his family, the wildlife, or the livestock. He remembered every creature on that cruise. 

He turned his full attention to working out his covenant with Noah and Company. God blessed all creation. God blessed all humanity. He used Noah and his family to bless the whole world. 

Going out on a limb here, but maybe, just maybe, when it feels like God has forgotten all about you, those are simply the last moments of darkness before the dawn of a new and glorious day. He finishes what he starts. If he has started working out his plan and purpose in your life, and he has, then do not quit before he is finished. 

Consider that if Noah and Company felt completely adrift at sea, alone against the wind and waves, even though they were not, every feeling and every thought suddenly shifted when “God remembered,” when “God turned his attention to Noah.” 

There are moments in our walk with God when we experience what feels like wave after wave of love, mercy, and grace. The open door on that ark must have felt like that. What did Noah and Company do after getting their land legs back? They worshiped God (verse 20). 

However dark your night, know that in God’s plan, it is the precursor to a bright and beautiful morning. Feel free to whistle in the dark. Sing a song of anticipatory praise. There is a new day coming.

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I will trust God to work out his plan and purpose for my life in his timing and in his way. 

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Our Father, empower me to trust you in life’s darkest moments. Teach me to sing songs in the night. Prepare me for what is next in your plan and purpose for my life. Amen.