Day 10 – Waters and Waiting
When Everything You Know Is Submerged
However you can engage today, we’re here. Read, listen or both.
The written portion gives an overview, with verses broken down into smaller bites, and journaling/prayer prompts for reflection. In the podcast, Steve Traylor reflects on today’s passage with Scripture reading, a deeper pastoral teaching, and prayer (about 15 minutes). Perfect for morning coffee, commutes, or when your eyes need a rest.
Genesis 7:1–24
The waters rise.
Noah has built. His family is safe inside. But the world he knew—the people he knew, the land he walked—all of it is about to be erased.
If you’ve ever felt like the ground beneath you is shifting, like everything stable is being taken away, like you’re suspended in uncertainty waiting for the storm to pass, you know what it feels like to be in the waters with Noah.
God does not remove us from hard seasons. But He does sustain us through them.
1. Command and Compliance
Genesis 7:1–5
¹ The LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. ² You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, the male and his mate, and of the animals that are not clean, two, the male and his mate, ³ and of the birds of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”
⁵ Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
Noah is given one more command: enter the ark.
Not uncertainty about God's protection—that's secure. But uncertainty about God's timing. So Noah obeys: "Come in. And wait."
For forty days.
That is not a short time. Forty days of water rising. Forty days of the world transforming. Forty days of waiting to see if the land will ever return.
But Noah obeys.
The passage focuses not on Noah’s emotions but on his obedience—what matters is that he moved forward because God said so.
This is the nature of faith in hard seasons—not always feeling confident, but moving forward because God commanded it.
Journaling/Prayer: When has God asked you to move forward even though you couldn’t see the destination? When have you obeyed even while afraid? If you’ve resisted God’s direction out of fear, tell Him that. Ask: “Help me trust even when I can’t see what’s ahead.”
Obedience is a choice. And sometimes, that choice is enough.
2. Waters Rising, Held Secure
Genesis 7:6–16
⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, went into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of the clean animals, and of the animals that are not clean, and of the birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, as God commanded Noah. ¹⁰ It came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were on the earth.
¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.
¹³ In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with him, entered into the ark, ¹⁴ they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. ¹⁵ They went into the ark to Noah, two by two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded. The LORD shut him in.
The waters come—not slowly, not gently.
The ground shakes. The sky opens. For forty days, water falls relentlessly.
And notice the final line: “The LORD shut him in.”
The door of the ark closes. Noah does not close it himself. God does.
This is both sobering and comforting.
In one sense, Noah is now completely dependent—unable to escape by his own power, sealed by divine hand. But this is not a trap; it is protection. The waters cannot breach what God has sealed.
In the hardest seasons—when you feel trapped, when circumstances press in, when you cannot see a way out—remember: the God who seals you in also sustains you.
He does not abandon you in the waters. He sustains you through them.
Journaling/Prayer: When have you felt trapped or enclosed by circumstance? When have you felt God’s presence in a confining space? If you’re in that place now, tell God: “I feel trapped. Help me trust that You are holding me, not harming me. If I cannot see my way out, show me how You are sustaining me even here.”
The darkness inside the ark was real. The noise of rain was overwhelming. But Noah was safe.
As are you.
3. Desolation and Duration
Genesis 7:17–24
¹⁷ The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth. The ark floated on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ The waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth. All the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. ²¹ All flesh died that moved on the earth—birds, livestock, animals, and every human being. ²² Everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils, everything that was on the dry land, died. ²³ Every living thing that he had made was blotted out from the surface of the ground—man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah remained, and those with him in the ark. ²⁴ The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.
One hundred fifty days.
Not forty. One hundred fifty.
For nearly five months, Noah waited. The ark floated over a submerged world. Land existed somewhere below, but invisible. The sky above offered only clouds and rain.
This is the desolation of waiting.
Waiting when you cannot see the outcome. Waiting when the grief is fresh and the wound is deep. Waiting when everyone around you—everyone outside the ark—seems to be drowning, and you survive not because you’re better, but because God shut you in.
The weight of that survival is heavy.
It is okay to grieve for those outside the ark while trusting God’s justice and mercy. Your survival is not something to feel guilty about—it is God’s grace to be stewarded.
But Noah is still there. The ark is still floating. God has not forgotten.
And one day—though Noah cannot see it from inside the ark—the waters will recede.
Not today. Not tomorrow. But one day.
Journaling/Prayer: Where are you in the waiting? Are you early in the flood—feeling the rain, watching the waters rise? Are you in the middle—exhausted, unable to see land, wondering how much longer you can survive? Or are you looking for the first sign that the waters will recede? Tell God where you are. Tell Him honestly: “How long?” And then ask Him: “Will You sustain me even if the waiting is longer than I think I can bear?”
If you cannot ask that question yet, that’s okay.
Just know: the God who kept Noah safe in the ark is the same God who is keeping you safe in the midst of your floods.
You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. And though the waters rise, they will not overcome you.
Summary
Genesis 7 shows us a God who:
Commands obedience even when the outcome is unclear
Seals His people in safety, even in hard seasons
Sustains through the long waiting
Remembers His people even in the longest seasons of waiting
Waiting is not punishment. It is a season God uses to deepen faith, humble our hearts, and remind us that we are not in control.
But we are held.
By the God who commands the waters. By the God who shuts the door and sustains what He has sealed.
Action / Attitude for Today
As you move through today, notice where you are resisting the waters or exhausted by them.
You don’t have to have faith that the flood will end today. You don’t have to see the dry land yet.
You just have to choose one small thing:
Trust that the God who shut you in will sustain you
Tell Him honestly how you’re feeling in the waiting
Ask Him for strength for one more day
Choose today to stop fighting the reality that you’re in the waters, and instead ask God to hold you while you wait.
This is not resignation. This is submission to the One who controls both the floods and the destination.
If the waiting feels unbearable, tell Him that. Ask Him for one day of grace. One more day of strength.
He has sustaining power for the long wait.
And one day—in His time, not yours—the waters will recede.
Until then, you are safe in His hands.
The Bible for the Broken is published by Aurion Press LLC. © Aurion Press LLC. All rights reserved.