Hope Times 2 September 16

Genesis 7:7

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

I remember my Great Grandmother Lillie once wrote me a letter, and in it, she said: "I suppose every generation gets their trial."

When Noah entered the ark, he had an expectation of leaving the ark. He knew the floodwaters would rise, but he had the expected Hope that they would recede, and they did.

There are two types of Hope in the Hebrew language. Unfortunately, we get the same word for both meanings. Noah had a kind of Hope that in Hebrew is called: YAKHAL, hoping that he could wait upon the LORD to end the storm and that the waters would recede. Hope in the LORD to bring the trial to an end.

The second type of Hope is QAVAH. It's a feeling or a tension similar to a cord being stretched. Stretch it hard enough, and the cord will break, thus releasing the pressure.

When we hope in the LORD, we remember His past deliverances, and we look back on all the times He saved us from trials and disasters and even death. He always pulled me through. Maybe what I see as personal failures God sees as victories?

It seems like our generation has come into our flood. We must symbolically enter the ark and see this through, trusting God to bring us to dry ground. It's a test of two hopes.

Genesis 8:4

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Notice the ark was constructed in a valley, and when the storm was over, the floods receded. When it came to rest, it was on top of the mountain.

Maybe God is bringing you to a higher level, closer to Him.

He is: Jehovah-Shammah

The Lord is There

Blessing's