How Do We know?

How do we know?  This is a question that comes up often and that we each face from time to time in life.  How do we know what or when we should do something?  God’s Word is full of instructions, so we should search the Scripture, seek counsel, and pray!  In today’s reading, though, we have a wonderful example of the practicality of what it is to follow God.  Noah and his family entered the ark by faith.  It rained and the earth flooded, but when should they leave the ark?  Do you think Noah also wondered ‘what should I do now?’, ‘should I leave the ark?’, or ‘when should I leave?’.  What we see is a series of steps.  First, the tops of the mountains became visible (Genesis 8:5), so Noah must have been looking.  Second, he opens the window and sends out a raven (v.7).  Next, he sends out a dove to see if the water had gone down, but the dove returned because it found no resting place (v.8-9).  Noah waited and sent the dove out again, this time it returned with a olive leaf in its beak.  This meant the water had gone down.  Then, Noah sent the dove out again, and this time it did not return.  Next, Noah removed the cover from the ark and saw the surface of the ground was drying (v.13).  However, it was not until God told Noah “Come out of the ark” that they actually came out (v.16).  Noah took a series of steps to explore and look, to watch and see, but waited upon instructions from God to move.