DAY 3 - Starting Over

Re-imagining our place in God's Plan

DAY 3 - Starting Over

Genesis 9:1 (ESV) - And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  (READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER)

When the last gun fired the last shot of the bloody U.S. Civil War, the quietness of peace came over the land. The severe judgment of war was over, but then the questions: How can a nation be restored? Will it be possible to start over? How do we repair our souls? The work ahead was not just about putting buildings back up where now there were cinders and ashes, but about reconstructing the soul of a nation. It took decades. It took faith and courage.
When we think of the story of Noah and the flood, we most likely think of the act of salvation—where a few human beings and species of animals were preserved in a great boat through the waters of judgment. But the climax of the flood story is the period of restoration that began when the survivors of the flood heard a sober call by God: be fruitful, increase, fill. God’s first call to Noah was to build a boat of salvation, but the ultimate call was to lead people into the “fruitful” life. Not just repopulation but true restoration.
Each of us come to some point in life where we need to start over—perhaps numerous points. Restarts include coming to faith for the first time, surviving a divorce, finding a job after the discouragement of unemployment, rehab after a difficult surgery, moving to a new city. In every restart we honor God when we obey his call to be fruitful, to increase, to fill. God wants to use us to bring value into the world. That includes work for which we get paid and work for which we do not. We bring value by building communities and relationships. We bring value when we get people connected to God.
Your start-over may look daunting. But the fact that God calls us to start over tells us that we will not need to do it on our own.

PONDER:  In what ways is God asking you to start over at this point in your life? What is the next courageous thing you need to do to make that happen?

Discussion or Reflection

When God flooded the Earth, he was hitting the reset button. God was starting fresh with creation and he gave them a new starting point. In some ways, God may be asking your family to start fresh. Where might you (your family) need to hit the reset button?

Read Psalm 23:3 and 1 Thessalonians 5:11 as an individual or as a group. What are things that are life-giving for you - your family? Things that get you excited? What are things that drain you (us as a family)? Where do you (does your family) need to hit the reset button? (In the ways we talk to others / one another? In our busyness? In our lifestyle? etc.)