40 Moms 40 Weeks - Through God’s Grace, support your spouse
Mom: Noah’s Wife
Children: Shem, Ham, Japeth
Gospel Connection
God is faithful to His promises and is gracious for His people even when sin is all around.
Ice Breaker Question
Have you ever had to care for a pet? What was that like?
Bible Reading
Genesis 6:5-22
Summary
Noah’s dad named him “rest,” pointing to the rest that would come to people, reversing the curse of hard, back breaking labor that came to man through sin. Noah did work hard and his wife had pain in birthing her three boys, Ham, Shem, and Japeth. We don’t know Noah’s wife’s name, but we do know that she was a mom and just like Eve, she’s our mom. Imagine being Noah’s wife. Your husband, who you love, hears from God and starts to build a boat, a big boat. Today, God speaks to us through the Bible and it tells us how we should live. Often in the Bible, God tells us to live in a way that might seem strange to those around us. Imagine the neighbors laugh and mock your husband for living according to God’s standards. Then, this project that seems to go nowhere lasts for over 100 years. You’ve spend your days taking care of three boys, teaching them about Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, telling them about God’s promises and goodness, but now, your safe and pleasant life has been turned upside down. Then, the animals start to come, two by two. Someone needs to feed them, care for them, and clean up after them. Imagine walking up the plank of the ark, trusting God to save your family from a flood when the rain hadn’t even started. The eight people on the ark waited seven days and then the rains pounded the earth and people pounded on the ark trying to get in to be rescued, but God only saved this one family to whom He had given faith. Even in our world today, we can face shame and gossip from neighbors and even family when we choose to follow God. Our spouses need our support to stand by them in living godly lives.
Question led Discussion
1. What is the dirtiest job you ever had to do for your family?
Give opportunity for discussion
2. When do you have the most difficulty trusting God?
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3. God had special plans for the children of Noah and his wife, to start over humanity. What special plans do you have for your kids?
Give opportunity for discussion
4. Have your children or your husband ever caused you shame with your neighbors or others?
(Noah’s wife trusted God with her life and with her children. She submitted to Noah’s obedience to God, going with him into a situation that brought shame on their family. She bore that shame in order to love and care for her children, trusting in God’s plan for her family. Noah’s wife was willing to do dirty work for her family and to play her role in God’s plan. She did not become famous, we don’t even know her name, but she was faithful and loved God and her family.)
5. How can you best prepare your kids for what God has for them?
(The world had grown so evil, the Bible said that men thought only of evil. Sinners needed to be punished, but God had promised that Eve’s son would defeat evil so their family line had to stay alive. God was going to destroy the world with a flood and He told his follower Noah to build a big boat so people and animals could be saved and continue on the earth. Noah and his wife trusted God and taught their children to trust and obey God as well. The best way we can prepare our children to live in a world full of sin is to teach them to love the Bible and to love to pray. )
6. What is one thing you can to today to show your husband that you love and support him?
Give opportunity for discussion
7. How can you pray for God’s protection for your family?
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