Brave in a Broken World
by Fay Barlow
(lexington, Sc)
Last night I felt overwhelmed by all that is going on around me. Prayer request were given in our small group that may have normally been thought of, as usual. But last night, I went to bed completely broken by all that I have heard and sensed these past few days.
It seems as if the world is in a tail spin. And not just economically. Dare I say that economics is the least of our problems? We are in a spiritual warfare as of late. Our economic problems are an external symptom of our greater internal issue. We are a broken people, relying on money and pleasures to fill our souls that were meant only for the Lord.
Yes, I am concerned by the rising job loss and friends that are struggling to make ends meet. And I am praying that my husband’s company weathers this storm. But lately, I’ve seen a shift in my own focus from the outside elements that seem to be crumbling, to the inside substance of faith. And I have to ask, “Is that in jeopardy also?”
Genesis 7:17-18
Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.
When God told Noah to build a boat for an impending rain storm, (which was a foreign word at the time, RAIN!)
I can only imagine what was going through Noah and everyone else’s mind. But Noah did what God told him to do. He trusted in God more than in the dry weather that had blanketed the land for years. And when Noah and his family climbed on board the boat, with lots and lots of houseboat guests, and the people outside laughed and scoffed and then went on with their self-centered idolatry ways, Noah may have still had a few doubts about what all this meant. But when the rains came, and they did, and when the water rose, and it did, trust became reality for the Noah family.
Someone in our small group last night brought up this passage and asked the question, “Did God take Noah out of the tribulation of the flood?” And our answer was “No. God preserved him through the flood.”
The family of Noah watched from their rather secure but turbulent house as the waters raged around them. They witnessed the sky turn a color they had never seen before and they felt for the first time, the sting of rain that fell for forty days and forty nights. They witnessed the devastation of others as the mocking turned to cries of terror. They may have even asked themselves, “Why us? Why are we spared?”
But even in the comfort of a masterpiece of a boat, tribulation still loomed in some ways. Their faith in God was tested. Their compassion was examined. Their bravery was questioned.
And so is mine.
The world’s financial problems may or may not be knocking down my door, but it is certainly testing my faith. My faith in our democratic system. My faith in my fellow man and possibly my faith in God.
But I have a fortress. I have my belief in God and my assurance is not set in the amount, or lack of amount that sits in my bank account. And just as God preserved Noah and his family through the flood, God will preserve my family through this crisis.
And the questions I need to ask myself are questions of substance. Do I trust God through this storm? Are my priorities ones of external comfort or internal peace?
God did not take Noah out of the storm and set him on a mountain top to view the devastation. God put him in a boat tossed my winds and currents for” one hundred and fifty days.” Genesis 7:24
God will preserve me through this financial and spiritual crisis. And when the rain stops and the waters cease, I may be a bit waterlogged and a tad nauseous, but I believe I will, like Noah, emerge from that boat, and “build an altar to the Lord” Genesis 8:20.
