A Place to Stand

"Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark." Genesis 8:8-9

A single lonely bird hovered over a submerged world. Below her were the results of the catastrophic flood. There was nothing to be seen but water. The world below her was desolate and seemingly without a future. Nowhere could she find a place to hold on to, to set down her tiny foot. She found no rest.

Yet the dove that fluttered around purposelessly was less lonely than she appeared to be. Noah - his name means "he who will bring rest" - had not forgotten her. He waited for her return. When the bird came, she found an outreached hand, ready to take her into the safety of the ark. Together they were on their way to a new future. The submerged earth would be habitable again.

We can be compared with this dove. We feel lonely and forsaken. We flutter around in a world that increasingly offers less to hold on to in every way. We see little hope for humanity. Spiritually and emotionally we find no rest.

Yet there is Someone who cares about us, who watches closely for each individual: GOD! Through Him we can find rest in spite of the catastrophes that harass the world. He offers us a place to stand, and hope, even in an apparently lost world. He offers a new beginning to those of us who return to Him.

By Gien Karssen, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 1"