Noah's Wife

For our Young Adults Worship Night coming up, we are focusing on some of the miracles within our everyday Bible stories. So often, we, as Christians, take for granted the amazing complexity of the miracles that God has preformed in our forefathers. My task is to reveal the supernatural phenomenon of Noah's flood through a perspective not often thought of - Noah's wife:


THE STORY OF NOAH’S ARK FROM HIS WIFE’S PERSPECTIVE

"For one hundred and twenty years we were scorned. Imagine! One hundred and twenty years! Aaah...it was the best of times, it was the worst of time. (pauses)

My poor husband couldn’t even walk to the market without mockery being hurled at him across the market square. “Hey, Noah! When’s this rainstorm supposed to be coming?” “What do you have there, Noah? More building supplies for your ark?” Still, my husband managed to hold his head high and bravely spoke of the Lord’s coming destruction.

My three sons? (sighs) Oh my poor children! There was a time at the beginning when all the neighbour kids would flock around them, interested in the “building project” that my boys’ father was constructing. It didn’t take long, though, until the children’s parents warned them to stay away from my sons and the monstrous shell of a boat that towered in our fields. Yet, as the years passed on, my sons clung to the promises of the rain and the revenge of our most holy God. I’m amazed, to this day, at the Lord’s goodness for keeping our sons faithful to Him.

As for me, well, there is nothing quite like the gossip of women! And oh, how it spreads! When Noah first started to build the ark, most of the women in my social circle just dismissed it as another “manly” building project. However, once the frame for the ark started to take shape, it threw a shadow over my friendships. I always knew when my family was being talked about, because as I would walk to the well each morning, the other women would stop to stare at me, whisper to each other, smirking as they quickly shuffled out of my way.

It was as if we had a disease! They were hard times, but times that definitely brought us closer together as a family, and closer to God. I smile now when I think of the way we boldly proclaimed the inevitable destruction that God was going to bring upon mankind. We had no shame.
No matter how hard and long we preached to our neighbours, nothing seemed to sink in. It was draining. There was nothing that we wanted more than for our former friends to believe that God’s punishment was coming!

It was an ordinary day when Noah and I awoke to the strangest of sounds. Imagine our disbelief when we looked out our window and saw animals of every kind, spreading out as far as the eye could see, all heading towards our boat. Imagine how it felt when the first rain drops started to fall! Up until that time, we never knew what rain was!

We were ecstatic! God was fulfilling His promise! And yet...I couldn’t help but feel sorrow wash over me as I thought of all our neighbours! Noah and I grew up with some of these people! For close to 600 years we had all toiled and worked the earth together...and now, their evilness had brought upon THIS. (sighs)

I can still hear the echoing thud of the ark’s door as it shut. The chaos of hungry animals and the pelting rain above us could not drown out the cries from outside the ark as the waters rose. What was even worse was the deafening silence after a mere hour of rainfall. I shudder to think of what it must have looked like beyond the sturdy walls of our ark.

It was over a year before we ever saw or walked upon dry ground again. My feet were wobbly as I stepped out of the ark, unsure of the muddy ground beneath my feet. We were exhausted. And yet, in that desolate landscape, all Noah could do was kiss the ground and sing praises to our God. We even erected an altar to thank our Lord for being faithful to us. Just when we were thinking that God could not provide us with any more miracles, we were dazzled by the most beautiful one of all!

The sky was awash with vivid reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues and violets that stretched from east to west. I remember looking at Noah and seeing the glow of this miracle reflected in his face. I recall kicking off my sandals, raising my arms as if to embrace the hues arched above me, and laughing. I twirled around, feeling the mud squish through my toes – thinking it was the most beautiful feeling I had ever felt. And there, on the top of that mountain where we rested, I fell to my knees and thanked God for His faithfulness and His breath-taking hope."

Experimental Prayer

J and I had the opportunity last week to take our YACC (Young Adults College and Careers) group through an interactive prayer night.

I have found that prayer can be one of the most daunting topics to approach amongst a Christian group. It seems  that we get so caught up in the "rituals." Close your eyes, fold your hands, use lots of big words (like sanctification, redemption, justification etc...) to make you sound smart, etc...The most frightful thing about prayer can be the very notion of praying OUT LOUD. Or even worse, in front of people.

Consequently, J and I wanted to tackle this obstacle, allowing people to know the beauty of communicating with our Creator, without the list of "do's and don'ts" lingering above. So, we constructed an interactive prayer night where each individual spent time at 9 different stations. Ideally, it would be nice to do this all in one big room (similar to a prayer labyrinth) but instead, J and I sectioned off 9 of the Sunday school classrooms at the back of the church and people moved from room to room as they pleased.

STATION 1: MAP

At this station, we had the YACC-ers pray for our city.  We had set out a large map of Kitchener Waterloo and around the map were pictures of different organizations within the city that helped the needy. (The Food Bank, ROOF, Ray of Hope etc..) The individual then read through Matthew 5:3-10, allowing God to impress on their heart the needs within our own city.

STATION 2: LISTEN

Here, the person meditated on Psalm 46:10 (Be still and know that I am God). We had instrumental music in the background, with all the lights turned out and only a few candles burning. This station was supposed to infuse peace, relaxation, knowing that God is in control.

STATION 3: WORD

At this particular station, we had laid out three different scrabble boards. The individual was to reflect upon the verse Isaiah 9:6. They were to think of words that they would use to describe God based upon His presence in their life. Whatever word(s) came to mind, the individual was to put on the scrabble board. As a result, the words connected (Scrabble style) as a symbol of how each individual has experiences of God to share with others.

STATION 4: CONFESSION

Here, we encouraged people to confess their sins/struggles while living in a broken world. Two passages were given (1 John 1:8-9 and Psalm 32:3-6) to stimulate their hearts to confession. They then wrote down whatever they felt needed to be confessed, and then, shredded it in the paper shredder. This station was to be one of repentance, and yet, a place to feel God's mercy.

STATION 5: REFLECTION

This station was composed of three mirror set on chair in different corners of the room. The young adult was invited to sit in front of this mirror to examine their reflection. They were encouraged to praise God for the amazing creation of themselves, realizing that they are 'fearfully and wonderfully made.' As well, they took time to ponder Proverbs 27:19, asking God to show them whether or not their lives were reflections of Christ or not.

STATION 6: H2O

Here, the individual was to think about how every prayer offered to God mixes with the prayers of all of God's people around the world. (They meditated on Matthew 18:20 and Ephesians 6:18) They were to consider how amazing it is to know that prayers do not know the boundaries of tie or space and so all become one! The person was then encouraged to think of a person, place or situation that they wanted to life up in prayer. When they were ready, they were to pour water from one of the pitchers into one of the bowls, watching as the water from other people's prayers mixed with their's - uniting as one. 

STATION 7: BURDENS

At this station, the young adult focused on Matthew 11:28. Here, they were encouraged to write down their burdens that they wanted to give over to Christ. They then wrote the burdens on post-it notes and stuck them to the cross of Christ, as an act of freeing themselves from doubts, fears, obligations, worries etc...that were keeping them from proper communion with God.

STATION 8: TIME

This station was intended to sober the individual into realizing how fleeting their time here on earth truly is. They were to meditate on Psalm 39:4-6, asking God to show them ways that they could make the most of their time here on earth by bringing glory to Him. Thoughts of heaven and eternity (and where you will spend it) were encouraged. They were inspired to spend time in prayer, asking God to show them the importance of the time they have here on earth.

STATION 9: PICTURES OF JESUS

We had set up at this station a projector that showed different images of Christ through the ages. Some of them were quite interesting (pictures of Jesus made from bar codes) or quite intricate (pictures of Jesus painted from the Renaissance). People were encouraged to think about their own understanding of Jesus and their call as a disciple of Christ. They were to consider the images that affirmed their understanding of Jesus and the ones that challenged them. Ultimately, they were to focus on John 14:6, knowing that there is only one way to the Father - through Jesus Christ. 

At the end of the evening, J and I felt that the interactive prayer night was a success. It was intended to be more of an experimental way to get acquainted with prayer. However, as a Christian, it is important to know that we are to be ready to pray in all situations...even in those more awkward situations. In fact, we are to pray continually (I Thessalonians 5:17)! But perhaps this night was used to open the eyes of someone to know how incredibly, beautifully simple communication with our Saviour can be!