translating... patriarchs...

The reading through... brings me to another patriarch... Abram... renamed... Abraham... who laughed at 99 years of age... when the Lord said he would have a son... by Sarai... Sarah... who was 90... she laughed too...

The Lord... He did not laugh...

Is anything too hard or wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son.

Genesis 17:14 Amp

With these words... my mind turns back to the ark... pregnant with life... waiting the appointed time... for delivery...

I'm still Noah... reaping wisdom from Abraham... and from one traveling with me... on The Journey...

She said it last Sunday... a response to my being Noah... floating... trusting... no control... waiting...

...he worked a long time... building the ark... 100 years...

100 years...?! ...that's what I heard her say... but a long time... yes... years... yes... many years...

And today... I think of that ark... and the One who delivers... and realize... faith... obedience... years of the daily... are what build an ark...

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete). And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you...

Genesis 17:1-2 Amp

Noah too... before Abram... walked with God... in habitual fellowship...

And I look at the work... the faith... I put in the loved one who struggles... hope it will hold through the storm... I only had 18 years... not 100...

And my own ark... the one pregnant with me... is there enough faith... to hold it together... waiting...?

When the storm comes... and the water rises... will your ark hold...? Will you trust it...? Will you forsake it...? Will a tree trunk floating by... look better than your ark...?

The building of an ark... like the building of a house... takes time...

It must be done in fair weather... building on the Rock... listening... seeking... obeying... finding Him a firm foundation... trustworthy in the small... leads us to trust Him with the large... and... looming...

And I wonder... and wait... for the day of delivery... His appointed time...

translating... Noah...

And the waters prevailed [mightily] upon the earth or land for 150 days (five months). And God [earnestly] remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters sank down and abated.

...

And the waters receded from the land continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had diminished.

...

And Noah went forth... 

[after being in the ark one year and ten days].

Genesis 7:24-8:1, 3, 18 Amp

Noah... I came upon his story in the reading through this past week... and identify with him... floating... without control... not knowing... when he will get to go forth...

The flood came... as a result of God's resolve to clean up evil on the earth... start anew...

And what I see in these verses... is a problem taken care of... reined in... but the waiting... the abating... of what was required... took a long time... [a year and ten days... according to the Amplified]... before he and his family could freely live in it...

My hope... is that a problem... in the life of a loved one... has been resolved... the initial flooding... bringing grace... for a new start... but the signs are unclear... some things look the same... and still... I have no control...

Like Noah... I test the waters... sending out doves... none returning... no clear evidence of change... only floating... waiting... trusting His faithfulness...

Today... I'm Noah... trusting Him... to remember... to continue blowing... His Spirit... His Breath... over the waters... of the unknown... trusting the journey... to end on dry ground... and going forth...

This week's readings for The Journey...

Monday                        Genesis 13-14

Tuesday                        Genesis 15-16

Wednesday                   Genesis 17:1 - 18:21

Thursday                       Genesis 18:22 - 19:38

Friday                           Genesis 20:1 - 21:7

translation of a sunrise...

Early this morning... my husband's voice reached my ear... the sunrise is pretty this morning...

And sure enough... it was one I thought glorious...

Seeing it fleshed out before me... the Word came to mind...

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

Psalm 19:1-2 ESV

Sunrises... sunsets...

a language... I believe... only human eyes can translate...

a glory... only we can see...

Set in the sky... as part of His plan...

to reveal Himself... 

to those He knew would rebel...

He was not surprised... that the elements He spoke...

created brilliance...

at the beginning and end of each new day...

He knew a day would come...

when those would want to explain it away...

by particles... pollution... and light traveling through...

But those... who seek... who long to know Truth...

will recognize His glory...

and see His handiwork...

being voiced... through the skies...

and translated... by faith...

in those who believe...

to songs of praise... and thanks...

The Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Psalm 50:1 ESV

translation...

I read it Monday... chasing Scripture references... in the reading through...

Reminded of it today...
as yesterday's gray...
gives way to a bright sunny day...

The Genesis walk of Enoch... right out of this world... into God's... sent me to Hebrews 11... the hall of faithful...

Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God.

Hebrews 11:5 Amp

...he did not have a glimpse of death... 

...because God translated him...

And King James... says it like this...

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;

and was not found, because God had translated him:

for before his translation he had this testimony,

that he pleased God.

Hebrews 11:5 KJV

translation... according to Webster's... to bear, remove, or change from one place, state, form, or appearance to another... transfer... transform...

A definition I thought I knew... always having to to do with language... understanding... but no... it goes deeper... translation... of form...

The gray... and drizzle... of yesterday...

with temperatures hovering around freezing...

left many of the raindrops... up in the trees...

branches... leaves... pine needles...

coated... with... ice...

hanging...

frozen...

But today... gray giving way...

sun shines...

temperatures rise...

and I see...

and hear...

translation...

Rain frozen on trees...

sounds like showers...

as it releases the freeze...

translation...

Rain to ice... ice to rain... continued its journey... to the ground...

And this transformation sends thoughts back to Enoch...

the first... to be translated by God... right into eternal life...

by faith...

And He sent the Word... to translate more hearts... lives...

that they too... might miss the glimpse of death...

I begin to see... translation... anew...

the translation that comes through the Word...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

"...Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word

and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgement, 

but has passed from death to life ..." ---Jesus

John 5:24 ESV

Translation... it comes through the Word...

weary... to rested...

hungry... to satisfied...

thirsty... to quenched...

translation...

In Christ... we step right through... 

into eternal life...

by faith...

And all life... it comes from Him... 

but here in the dark of the world... 

we need translation...

dark... to light...

death... to life...

in order to continue... our journey... back to Him...

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have gained access by faith

into this grace in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

Father God... translate... me...