Choosing to Trust God in Every Season: Lessons From Noahනියැදිය

Waiting on God

The Great Wait

It may have been Noah’s greatest act of faith.

No, building the ark, enduring ridicule, or caring for all those animals—but waiting. We often think of faith in terms of action, but some of the deepest trust is revealed in inaction—when we choose not to rush ahead, complain, or despair while God appears silent.

Noah didn’t know how long it would rain. He didn’t know how long the waters would rise, or how long they would take to recede. He didn’t know when or how he would leave the ark, or what kind of world would be left behind. God provided no preview. The only thing Noah did know was that God had shut the door behind him, and until God opened it, he would steadfastly trust God.

The kind of determination that believes God will keep His promises no matter how long it may feel overdue is more than waiting.

That is spiritual anticipation.

Waiting with spiritual anticipation is choosing to believe that God’s timeline is better than ours, even when it hurts. It means learning to want God's will more than our own.

While God flooded and then drained the earth, He was also shaping the heart of Noah through total surrender. This is the kind of waiting God commends.

READ

Romans 4:20–21(Commending Abraham's faith) Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Hebrews 6:12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Lamentations 3:25–26The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Romans 8:24–25..But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

REFLECT

What is suggested about the relationship between faith and waiting? How is active spiritual anticipation different from passive waiting? How can this kind of waiting please God?How do you tend to respond when God delays in meeting a need or fulfilling a promise? In a current wait, how can you actively anticipate God’s faithfulness?

The Work of Waiting

As the flood prevails, Noah does not panic.

When the rain continued for 40 long days and nights, Noah did not devise a back-up plan. And interestingly, God did not make Noah responsible for making any progress. There is no rudder. No sail. No planned coordinates. His only instruction was to trust.

So, Noah rests - and this continues to fulfill the meaning of his name.

• He rests from labor.
• He rests from preaching.
• He rests from contending with the world.
• He rests in the provision and protection of God.

The door is closed—not by Noah’s hand, but by God’s mercy. And while the door brings judgment to those outside, it brings safety to those within. That safety, though, does not bring any new revelations. There are no commands recorded. No signs. No new promises. No comforting assurances. Only water... and silence. Yet Noah remained still in the quiet confidence that God who shut him in would also bring him out.

It was a long wait.

All the while, Noah was bobbing in a wooden box, surrounded by animal noise and smells, no sign of land, and no explanation from heaven. He didn’t grumble. He didn’t bargain. He didn’t pry open the door. He was a man of faith, not because he knew what was coming, but because he kept trusting when he didn’t. He waited—patiently, faithfully, and quietly.

But he didn’t waste the wait.

Though his soul rested, his days were filled with all the responsibilities of his current situation. He had a family to lead and encourage. Thousands of animals to feed. Stalls to muck out. A boat to maintain. A marriage to nurture. There is no doubt that Noah fell into bed tired at the end of every day. Waiting on God was no excuse for wasting his time. He could faithfully serve God even as he waited on God.

READ

Colossians 3:23–24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…

Luke 16:10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…

Matthew 24:45–46 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge... to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

REFLECT

How does Noah’s stewardship inside the ark challenge our assumptions about what constitutes "spiritual work"? How was Noah growing in faith and faithfulness even as he waited on God? What does Noah’s continued diligence inside the ark suggest about the kind of character God forms in us during seasons of uncertainty? What daily work would God have you do while you are in a waiting season? What responsibilities might God want to use to shape your character in this season? What would faithfulness look like for you this week, even if your bigger prayers or dreams remain unanswered?

The Reward of Waiting

As Noah keeps calm and carries on, the days roll by.

A week. A month. Two months. Water fell from the sky for 40 days and 40 nights, and water continued to gush from the deep places in the earth for 150 days until the entire surface of the earth was covered.

“But God remembered Noah…” Genesis 8:1

This small phrase is a turning point in the story and in Noah’s soul. To “remember” in the Hebrew Scriptures does not mean that God forgot—it means God acts in covenant love. He brings someone to the center of His merciful attention. God remembered Noah in the same way He would later remember Abraham (Gen. 19:29), Rachel (Gen. 30:22), and the Israelites in slavery (Ex. 2:24). To be remembered by God is not to escape pain—but to remain under His care as His purposes unfold.

To be remembered is the prelude to God’s active blessing.

READ

Genesis 8:1-5 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

Can you imagine what it must have been like on the day Noah noticed the water was no longer rising. In fact, it was receding! But the waiting was not over. It would be another 150 days before the ark found a berth on a mountain top. Obviously, there was dry ground below them. So why did Noah continue to wait to open the door and step out?

Noah wasn’t led by what he saw—he was waiting on what God would say.

And at that time, God had said nothing more. In the meantime, Noah gathered information by sending out first a raven and then doves to see if they would return or find a place to nest.

Genesis 8:11-12When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

And still Noah waited. Within a few weeks, Noah could see that “the earth was completely dry.” Then God spoke.

Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—Genesis 8:15-16

The door was opened when the time was perfect, not a moment too soon or too late.

God's timing isn’t random. It is ruled by His wise, loving purpose: to bring Himself glory and do good to His people. God is committed to those two aims. That’s why we can trust Him even when we’re still waiting behind a shut door.

READ

Isaiah 48:11 “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

Isaiah 43:6–7 “Bring my sons from afar… everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory…”

Psalm 23:3 He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Deuteronomy 8:16 …that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

REFLECT

Based on Noah’s experience and these verses, how might God’s glory and Noah’s good both be advanced in the God’s timing? What is evidence the Noah valued the purpose and glory of God over his comfort or blessing? What does it take to trust God to be the best judge of what is good for His people? How is waiting on God an act of worship?Is there any situation in which you doubt God has your best interests in view? How could you demonstrate today that advancing God’s glory is a greater priority than ending your waiting? What do you know about God that shows you that He cares deeply about your good in your current season?

For both Noah and for us: Trust is the bridge from waiting to seeing God's goodness.