The Waiting Game

A Reflection for Monday, December 1 by Samantha Wade

Lectionary reading for 12/01/2025: Psalm 124; Genesis 8:1-19; Romans 6:1-11 

Selected passage for reflection: Genesis 8:1-19

Read

Book Chapter: Genesis 8:4-17 CSB

⁴The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ The water continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. ⁶ After forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, ⁷ and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. ¹¹ When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. ¹² After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. ¹³ In the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry. 

¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

Reflect

I have never used the lectionary in my personal Bible reading, nor have I ever attended a church that preached from the lectionary. Thanks be to God for the different ways Christians engage with scripture, because I would have never made the connection between Noah and Advent. Noah’s story has primarily been a children’s story to me. One that is often presented as a standalone story to illustrate how God keeps his promises, but without a grand canonical connection.

Recent circumstances helped me to make the connection between the receding of the flood and the coming of Christ. At the time of writing this devotional, I am 38 weeks pregnant. I spend my days looking for signs that this new life I carry will be born. I can feel the baby moving and I can feel my body preparing for the process of birth. Yet I continue to wait day after day unsure when this new life will ultimately arrive.

Thankfully I know how long pregnancies usually last and there are medical interventions just in case my body does not naturally go into labor. But my heart goes out to Noah, there is no way of knowing how long it takes the earth to dry out after 40 days and 40 nights of rain. There was nothing that he could do to intervene and help the process along. All he could do was wait on the Lord while looking for signs of life. 

God bringing life into barren places is a recurring theme throughout scripture. Reflecting on the story of Noah, an image that stood out to me was the ark floating on top of the water depths of the lifeless land. God had a plan, just like in Genesis 1, to bring newness of life to a place devoid of it. Scripture is abundantly clear that sin has brought about death, much like in the story of Noah. Unlike the story of Noah, the advent story is about God bringing life by extending an opportunity to humanity to receive grace upon grace (John 1:16).  God’s response to this land devoid of life by sin is to send his son Christ Jesus to be the light and life of men (John 1:4). The beauty of God’s intervention through Jesus is that he brought life to a virgin, ex nihilo. He alone is the only creator and sustainer of life.

The story of Noah is a testament of God’s faithfulness to bring to life that which has died to sin. The first coming of Jesus brought life and light and that is what we celebrate and remember during Advent. We are also anticipating Christ’s second coming when we can once and for all declare, “death where is your sting (1 Corinthians 15:55)!” We, like Noah, are waiting for God’s intervening hand. Let us faithfully seek for signs of life, even if none seems present, and respond in faith when we see it.

Respond 

Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 aloud. Declare the truth of scripture and live in its truth.

Rest 

Almighty God, giver and sustainer of life, we wait here for you. We wait but not as people without hope. Sustain our faith to continue to look for signs of life. Give us the strength to respond and take part in the work you are doing. Holy Spirit, comfort us in our distress, reassure us in our doubt, encourage us in the waiting. May this Advent season bring us and our neighbors hope. All to the glory of the Father, in Christ Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

About the Author 

Samantha Wade is currently a stay-at-home mom caring for her three young boys with a little girl on the way. Samatha received a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary in 2018 and was a battalion chaplain in the Army Reserves. As a military wife and mother of young children, Samantha's life is in constant transition, so she strives to do ministry wherever the Lord may take her. Samantha and her family currently reside in Seaside, CA.