Woman of faithfulness and patience
The next woman I wish to discuss today appears nameless and faceless. However, between the lines of the Holy Word, you find evidence of her and her character. She was the wife of the man whose own father prophesied over him, ‘this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed’ (Genesis 5:29, KJV).
Noah was meant to bring comfort to those who had to live in harsh times. And he did. We learn that God found earth full of wickedness, corruption, violence and ‘…that every imagination of the thoughts of his[man’s] heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5, KJV). So much so that God was aggrieved by making man and planned to destroy both man and beast. However, Noah and his family found grace and mercy in God’s eyes. (Genesis 6:6-8, KJV).
The grace bestowed onto Noah was also transferred to his wife and her offspring. A covenant was made to this family of eight. They had to build an ark and will enter the ark with the beast of the earth and fowls in the air. Whenever one’s husband is given a large project to do, it is up to the wife to be supportive, understanding of the frustration going along with this project, and encouraging in the days when things do not always go to plan. We do not really learn about all this in the bible, but we also know Noah wouldn’t be able to do all this on his own. She and her three daughters-in-law had to gather food for the family and the various animals to eat. These tasks must have been difficult and laborsome for the inexperienced.
They lived in a time when they knew what would happen and most likely were ridiculed by friends and family. In today’s world, they would be seen as a conspiracy theorist. We all have friends, family members, colleagues and even acquaintances who do not believe in God. The same was in her time, and great sadness must have filled her heart, knowing that these people she had grown up with would all perish because they did not want to repent.
Paul writes in Romans 5:2 (KJV) that we should ‘glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’ My great belief is that Noah’s wife was a God-fearing woman, that through this very difficult time, she patiently awaited God’s redeeming power and had hope for a better future for her and her children.
We must also consider that she and her family were trapped on that ark for around 150 days. They couldn’t go for long walks to ‘catch a breather.’ Being enclosed with all those animals (and spiders) makes her the bravest woman I know. Still, she got on with her task—what an amazing woman. To them, a new covenant was formed between God and every living creature, that God will never destroy the world through a flood again, and a rainbow will be a token of this covenant. What a beautiful promise to be made after everything this family had been through. Her faith and hope prevailed, and more blessings were bestowed upon her from God through all her grandchildren.
#GodCanDoThis
Lightbearer's Quest 