Noah's Wife

By Cheryl Dickow
Catholic Online

Sometimes, maybe even more often than we would like, our lot in life seems to be mundane but necessary. Day after day, week after week, we clean bathrooms, attend meetings, shop for groceries, do laundry, and carpool. Our lives are so full of chores that it seems as if we could be replaced by one well-oiled robot with decent driving skills. Yet we continue on with the belief that what we do makes a difference.

We find gratitude in the small things, the simple "thank-you's," and the occasional hug. It is our hope that from our tedium will arise treasures. We nurture our children, tend to our sick neighbor, and comfort our co-workers. We do these things for our family, our friends, and our neighbor knowing that caring for others is an edict from God. Deep inside we know the worth of our actions and trust in the value of what we do. We have a deep and unwavering faith in God's plan for our life. Part of that faith comes from learning others' stories and seeing how God worked in their lives.

Noah's wife and daughters-in-law are the heroines for the time in our life when we have to reach deep within ourselves and find joy where others might not. From Noah's wife, and her daughters-in-law, we clearly see how God is working miracles while she is taking care of the day-to-day necessities. Like us, there must have been times that these women wanted to give up, throw in the towel, and collapse from exhaustion. But they kept on working. Not because they were above reproach but because they were fulfilling God's purpose in their lives. God's design was energizing them just as it often energizes us. It gives us momentum when nothing else will. It is important for us to draw strength from the knowledge that our everyday lives, when truly lived for God's glory, never really have an ounce of tedium in them.

Whether we are loan officers, volunteer clinicians, restaurant workers, CEOs, or full-time mothers we can never underestimate what we bring to others in our daily living. Just as important is the realization that it is the commitment to our everyday tasks that allow us to develop the perseverance required to be disciples of Christ. From that foundation of tenacity Christ will be able to bring our lives into fruition and blessed beyond imagination.

If we are not finding joy in our everyday lives and able to give gratitude for what we currently have, we cannot ask to move ahead and acquire more. It is to our benefit to work diligently, for God's glory, in whatever circumstances He has put us while we thank Him, and believe in His word, for the blessings that are unfolding. Just as Noah's wife was assiduously working to make the ark's mission a success, so were untold blessings unfolding for the future of mankind: namely its survival.

We find renewal in the understanding that, when we are working with God, our journey will be enriched by a wide variety of people and circumstances in which we are both givers and takers. We do not see what God has in store but should put our complete faith and trust in Him.

Had she known what lie ahead, what might Noah's wife's reaction have been at the outset of the journey? Like most of us, she must have seen her own weaknesses and probably would have abandoned the idea that she could be of help. If she had heard the weather forecasts with the tremendous torrential rains and seen video clips of the animals in their stalls, she might have run in the opposite direction. Perhaps this is why God wisely withholds so much from us. Nonetheless, there she was on the ark. And, just as God would hope, she worked diligently to bring about the success of God's plan.

Do we work just as diligently knowing that we are all part of God's plan for the earth? Is He waiting for us to show Him our tenacity before His blessings become known? While we do not know the answer to this, we do know that the traits of diligence and perseverance are highly revered in Scripture.

In Scripture we learn about these women and yet never know their names. Indeed, their names could be our names and our names could be theirs. These incredible women lent the physical and emotional support needed to attain victory for the Ark's purpose. As women, we know, or can certainly imagine, what had to be accomplished on that expedition. Laundry, toilets, and meals come quickly to mind. Add in the captivity, along with the animals, and we can all shake our heads in agreement, "Yes, we know what these women went through."

But so it was that from their tedium God saved humankind from extinction. From the monotony of their endless days caring for a multitude of animals and the daily needs of the people on the ark, these women ushered in the most beautiful of treasures. They help us realize that our daily tasks happen amidst many of God's miracles. They ushered in the continued existence of humanity. And yet we never learn their names. How might our existence mirror theirs? Let us look for the miracles that are happening all around us and thank God for them.

We can picture how these women would have worked tirelessly, side-by-side, with their spouses. Like us, they would have worked with a gratitude that could only come from understanding the innate value of what was being done. They would have, even in their exhaustion, found time for prayer and thanksgiving to the God who cared for them, the God we now serve and worship. This is the same loving God who set us upon our current path and associated us with our current friends and family. He is our tender God. He is our exacting Father.

Indeed, God's demands are very clear when we consider how arduous these women's lives must have been. We can understand His conditions when we consider that even with His concern for their survival, how much was required of them. It is the same with us. As we read in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8, we are reminded that our lives, too, will be filled with a variety of seasons. God gives each season, whether it is the time for weeping or the time for laughter, to us. And so, in looking to Noah's wife and daughters-in-law we can recognize these different seasons and know their necessity in God's plan. We can look to these women and understand that the seasons of our lives are a necessary part of our own survival, growth, and spiritual awakening.

Like these women, God cares for our physical survival and spiritual growth. However, for both of these to occur, we need to work persistently with Him, just as Noah's wife and daughters-in-law did. And in so doing we, too, must often find joy in the mundane. We, too, must look to a God who loves us immensely and find both our comfort and our peace in that knowledge. Whether it is our time to mourn or our time to dance, we must find solace in each season knowing that God is with us. He is a strong shoulder to cry on or a wonderful dance partner.

But how do we respond to God during the different seasons of our life? Do we remember that He has a bigger plan for us that we may not see? Do we work joyfully and persistently knowing that, in doing so, we glorify Him? Do we continue to love and worship Him through all the times of our life? Do we remember how important our work is even if we, too, forever remain nameless?

It is vital for us to remember that our contribution is no less valuable because of our anonymity. The world values notoriety and fame. God values our focus on Him and His call in our life. When we fully live and breathe for God, our life, and what we offer up with it, is as important as Noah's wife's life and the lives of his daughters-in-law. As wives, mothers, and cherished friends, our lives take on a new meaning when we look to these nameless, faceless, and yet ultimately amazing women for a renewed understanding of the treasure in our everyday tasks.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A timer to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.

Matthew 9:37

Lord,

Let me always remember that
You have a plan for me
that is greater than I could ever imagine.

Let that understanding be my guide
as I care for those you have put into my life
and reach out to those whose lives I might touch.

Let me always remember
that serving others is a way to serve You
and that loving others is a way to love You.

Let my anonymity,
whether it be for a season
or a lifetime,
be for Your glory.

Let me live for You
all the days of my life.

Amen.

___________________

This is an excerpt from my book, "Reclaiming Your Christian Self in a Secular World: A Woman's Worth" which received an honorable mention in gender issues from Catholic Press.

Contact

Ask, Knock, and Seek
http://www.AskKnockSeek.com MI, US
Cheryl Dickow - author and speaker, 248 917.3865

Email

cheryl@AskKnockSeek.com

Keywords

Catholic women

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