trusted online casino malaysia
Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.
The DEEP

Great Trials

lead to great faith.

Genesis 7:17-8:5 (ESV)

The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

The time span involved here highlights the miraculous nature of this whole event. God didn’t tell Noah to store a year’s worth of food on the ark – and there’s no way that could have worked out anyway. God only said, “You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.

Obviously, God supernaturally helped Noah take care of the people and animals on the ark. Just as God supernaturally brought the animals to the ark, and supernaturally shut the door to the ark, and supernaturally brought the flood, so he supernaturally got them through this trial.

And just think about what a trial this was. Noah faced impossible task after impossible task. What he was trying to do never looked feasible.

But this trial did what great trials do, gave Noah rock solid faith. By the end of all this, he really knew that he could trust God.

You don’t really know that parachutes work until you’ve jumped out of an airplane.


We’ve been discussing praying like you’re talking to your boss, and not just asking for favors. But there’s one prayer that’s both – asking Him for a clue. Walking with the Lord definitely means wondering about His agenda.

It’s perfectly fine, even essential, to say prayers like, “You wanna tell me what you’re up to now?”

That’s the secret to handling trials (see above).


The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Mike Slay

As a mathematician, inventor, and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, Mike Slay brings an analytical, conversational, and even whimsical approach to the daily study of God's Word.

Subscribe to Ailbe Newsletters

Sign up to receive our email newsletters and read columns about revival, renewal, and awakening built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification.