When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” (Genesis 5:28,29 ESV)
I usually roll my eyes at the opening line of one of Whitney Houston’s songs, “I believe that children are the future…” The concept is so obvious that it seems silly to sing about it.
But today, I see that Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech would have agreed with Whitney. They were experiencing God’s curse, and they were tired.
But they knew that things were going to get better. They knew that God had promised relief. And so as they observed the extension of the family tree was a repeated promise. Down the branches of this tree lie hope.
Noah means, “rest.”
As the aging men (and they all were alive at this time) gathered around the baby, Noah, they saw hope. They knew that rest was coming. And they saw it in their family.
They were right, more than they knew.
God gives us a similar hope. The shift, though, is that we find hope in our Brother. While we hope FOR our children’s children, we hope IN our Brother.
Whether we need rest, relief, healing, strength, blessings, peace, comfort, or joy, God gives hope in THAT family. Whether we need faith or love, God gives hope in THAT family.
Take the hope God offers.