So I’ve been writing a paper comparing and contrasting two
accounts of the great flood lately. I chose the account of Noah, and the
account found in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s really interesting,
because it started out as just an assignment, but in breaking down the story of
Noah, I see how different God is from the “gods” in Gilgamesh. What strikes me
the most is something that I already knew, but I’ve never thought about it in
the way this assignment made me look at it. It’s always funny how God can take
an old truth and put it on your heart in a different way.
In Gilgamesh the gods ran away from the water that they sent
like, “whipped dogs”. The rain controls them rather than the other way around,
but God was in control of the rain in Genesis. He did not flee it, He did not
fear it. He is in control. It was in that moment that I heard him say, “Mags,
don’t you get it? I am in control. Be still, beloved.” I’ve been driving myself
insane trying to figure out what God wants from me. I’ve often wondered why it
is still raining. I’ve driven myself crazy trying to BE IN CONTROL. Because
that’s what I do. I try to be in control of everything in my life, but how
freeing is it to know that you don’t have to be in control? I haven’t felt this
at peace in so long. All I did today was write my paper, but in my break time,
I’ve just sat in silence. How great is that? God is not
afraid of the rain. He is not controlled by the rain. How great it OUR God!? He
doesn’t flee the storm…he tames it. When life gets a little crazy just take a deep breath and...BE STILL, BELOVED.
