God is our ARK!

I'm thinking today of a couple of songs...
One is a worship song that came out a few years ago that says, "Let it Rain, Let it Rain...Open the flood gates of Heaven." The other is a song I have sang for the past 15 years or so (and has been recorded by several Southern gospel groups) titled "Just Another Rainy Day." I guess it's the dreary rainy day that is outside that brought those songs (and I'm sure I could think of several more) to my mind. But, it got me thinking about the reasons for rain...not the physical rain that helps water the crops and plants outside but the spiritual rain and "rainy days" in our lives.

The first rain ever recorded that occurred on the Earth was noted during the story of Noah in the Bible.  Before that time the world had never seen rain and that's why people thought Noah was crazy for building a boat for something they didn't even have a comprehension of.  Unfortunately, the first rain ever was used by God to cleanse the Earth completely because it had become so evil. He spared the one man He could find righteous in His eyes and allowed him and his family to live.   God used the PHYSICAL rain for a spiritual cleansing but afterward made a promise that it will never happen again.

In my life there are days that I feel the rain pouring down on me.  There are days I wish I had an ark I could close myself into to protect me from the storms that rage around me but sometimes it's not possible (in the physical sense).  It is however, possible in the spiritual sense.  Those are the days I have to look to God to be the ark that surrounds me and protects me.  Although Noah and his family were protected by the ark around them, they still had to go through the 40 days and nights of the rain that surrounded them.  The ark didn't keep them out of the rain...it PROTECTED them FROM the rain.  Our lives are the same way.  When all around us all we see are the storms of life pounding down on us, we can go to our ARK and know that although we may still have to face the storm, God will protect us from it and will bring us through to the other side. Sometimes it's necessary to face the rain in order to get to the PROMISE that God has for us.

You may be facing a storm in your life that seems to be destroying all that is around you and you feel like you are drowning.  Now is a good time to go to the ARK and seek shelter!  It doesn't mean the storm isn't still there but He does provide HOPE and comfort to know you are protected from the rain and that on the other side God has promised a future with HIM and He has a promise to never leave or forsake you...especially in the middle of a raging storm!!!