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December 4 Daily Devotional

God Answers

Frans Bakker

And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. —Genesis 8:11

Bible Reading

Genesis 8:6–12

Devotional

God exalts Himself in little things. He makes use of what people call little things to speak to His church. And He does all this in His own time, which is always the best time. The dove returned to the ark at dusk. The Lord determined not only that an olive leaf would be brought to Noah in the dove’s beak, but the Lord also determined the time when this would happen. All these things were of the Lord. God caused the olive tree to grow. God caused its leaves to sprout. God led the dove through the air back to the ark. The Lord kept the dove from returning to the ark until dusk. He directed it all.

If the dove had come to the ark with an olive leaf in its beak at noon, then it would have been much easier for Noah. He would not have had to wait so long. But one learns more by waiting than by immediately receiving an answer. Waiting casts our cares on the Lord. God’s time is always the best time. The Lord never comes too early. And God’s wonders become greater when expectant sinners have been tried in their expectations.

God sent the dove at dusk. That was probably when Noah was beginning to lose hope. It would, however, be a most blessed evening for Noah, for that olive leaf was given when, humanly speaking, it could no longer be expected. The olive leaf was a miracle beyond Noah’s greatest hope. Noah was on the verge of closing the window; then the dove came. For the Lord never comes too early, neither does He come too late. God did not let the night fall before He answered Noah’s plea.

The Lord does not surrender supplicants to the night. The Lord sees them, each one of them at their own window. He knows they cannot carry on without evidence of His favor. He hears their groanings. He numbers their tears. They can be so oppressed that they say, “Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will He be favourable no more” (Ps. 77:7)? From their side it can even seem that there is no God. Everything seems hopeless. The window is at the verge of being closed and they are at the point of turning away from it in disappointment, crying out, “Everything is lost. Deliverance is impossible.”

But then it is God’s time and the Lord says, “It is enough.” Then deliverance often comes from where the petitioner had not expected. For Noah it was not from an angel, but from a dove. “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer” (Isa. 65:24). When Noah saw evening falling, the dove was already on its way. God was on His way. God knows His people who cry day and night to Him and He will never put them to shame.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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