Safe And Secure

“And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” (Ge 7:16 AV)

 What a picture of the secure sovereignty of God.  Noah and his family built a ship.  They placed upon the ark two of each unclean animal and seven pairs of clean animals.  They were told to build the ark and assemble the floating zoo because there would come such a great rain upon the Earth the waters would reach the top of the highest mountains.  They would face forty days of non-stop storms with the rising deluge throwing this ship about in the waves.  There is no record of a leak or mishap.  There is no mention of mechanical failures mentioned in the biblical account.  There is no distress ever mentioned, either.  Why?  Because God shut them in.  God was the one who secured Noah and his family.  It wasn’t the men who pulled the door shut and sealed it.  It was God who closed and sealed that door.  There was no anxiety over their safety because when troublesome times came, they remembered who shut them in.

I wonder if David references the same idea when he speaks of the shadow of the wings of God.  There is a security with God that we seldom remember.  We are taken with the external situation and forget that God has our back.  He always does.  He has shut us in.  I like blankets.  The heavier the better.  It doesn’t matter if it's in the middle of a hot summer, I still like the weight of the blanket.  My wife’s uncle brought us a blanket from South Vietnam.  It is extremely thick and heavy.  It is a full-size blanket and we sleep in a California King.  So, this blanket is not large enough for two people.  Needless to say, it stays on my side of the bed.  Then, I was shopping a Khols to see if we could find another blanket like it and the only thing I saw was rather new.  It was a concept that came about within the past few years.  They are called weighted blankets.  These blankets are filled with some kind of material that makes them abnormally heavy.  I haven’t gotten one yet, but one of these days, I just might pick one up.  Why?  It makes me feel secure.  There is something about being surrounded by something greater than oneself that gives a sense of safety.

When Noah and his family entered the ark, there was much which be concerned about.  Never before had they experienced a flood.  Some even teach there was no rain upon the earth until the flood came.  There was no oceanic travel.  There was no lightning or thunder.  Everything was serene and calm.  Then God’s wrath came upon mankind and all that changed.  In a matter of a few days, mankind would be diminished to eight people.  From hundreds of millions of people to one family.  There was much that any normal person may be anxious about.  The one thing that made the greatest difference is the fact that God shut them in.  God secured them.  It wasn’t something they did for themselves.  God shut them in and secured the hatch.  No threats from without could molest.  They were safe in the palm of God’s hand and they were shut in.