We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel, as we continue to dig deeper into verse 13 of Chapter 10. It reads,
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia."
God calls to us through the contentions of our lives. That is a constant for every one of us. The variable is the way, manner, and timing of our response or the lack thereof. Our response, not God, determines the length, breadth, depth, and height of our lives, and the impact we leave in the push of civilization.
In Genesis 6:7, God intended to judge mankind, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8) How and why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the Lord? In our everyday street language, "God was impressed with Noah." In other words, Noah differentiated himself before God. How?
Fortunately, or unfortunately, we are not told much about Noah's life before his introduction in Genesis 6:8, other than his lineage and the occasion of his birth. [Genesis 5:28-32] His name meant REST. He was seen as one who "will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” [Genesis 5:29]
Noah most probably lived up to his name, otherwise, the scriptures would have mentioned it. He provided the rest his parents sought in the might of the labor and contentions in their lives. How so aptly fitted to our trend of thought and meditation.
Whatever rest Noah brought to his family it did not go unnoticed by God. Noah brought rest to others, God noticed, and was impressed. Noah could only have given rest because he had it. A person cannot give what he or she does not have.
Nothing tells us more about how Noah got and sustained this rest than how he heeded the word of God and held on to it for as long as it took for the floods to come. That more than anything else is the window into the man Noah. He believed God and patiently waited on His word in the face of contradictions.
Contradictions will always come. Our own contentions are real. Our only recuse is God - His Person, Word, and Promises. The struggle is real, but God is much more real and present. He is our REST.
The Saint.
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