Under Water

Reading 5: Genesis 7

"Build an arky, arky!"

The flood waters came and everything was gone. The "slate" was wiped clean, and we started over.

It's interesting that we don't necessarily associate getting rid of something completely as a "mature" way of dealing with a problem. Yet here, God got rid of everything as the best way to deal with the issue that was happening: man's increasing wickedness.

In ministry, we all too often fight tooth and nail to hold onto something that really should be let go. Perhaps there are moments when we need to let it go, wipe the slate clean, and start fresh? That kind of decision is not made lightly (God didn't just jump to the flood, He tried other things see Genesis 6.) It's not an endorsement to cancel whatever it is you're doing that's not working. It's not an excuse to give up on trying to work things out and make amends. But there must come a point when you realize that it's not working, it's time to start over.