This is the one-hundred-fifty-eighth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” Genesis 9:1

When the last gun fired the last shot of the bloody US Civil War, the quietness of peace came over the land. The severe judgment of war was over, but then the questions: How can a nation be restored? Will it be possible to start over? How do we repair our souls? The work ahead was not just about putting buildings back up where now there were cinders and ashes, but about reconstructing the soul of a nation. It took decades. It took faith and courage.

When we think of the story of Noah and the flood, we most likely think of the act of salvation—where a few human beings and species of animals were preserved in a great boat through the waters of judgment. But the climax of the flood story is the period of restoration that began when the survivors of the flood heard a sober call by God: be fruitful, increase, fill. God’s first call to Noah was to build a boat of salvation, but the ultimate call was to lead people into the “fruitful” life. Not just repopulation but true restoration.

Each of us come to some point in life where we need to start over—perhaps numerous points. Restarts include coming to faith for the first time, surviving a divorce, finding a job after the discouragement of unemployment, rehab after a difficult surgery, moving to a new city. In every restart we honor God when we obey his call to be fruitful, to increase, to fill. God wants to use us to bring value into the world. That includes work for which we get paid and work for which we do not. We bring value by building communities and relationships. We bring value when we get people connected to God.

Your start-over may look daunting. But the fact that God calls us to start over tells us that we will not need to do it on our own.

PONDER
In what ways is God asking you to start over at this point in your life? What is the next courageous thing you need to do to make that happen?
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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s teaching pastor. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel’s many books include Spiritual Leadership Today: Having Deep Influence in Every Walk of Life (Zondervan, 2016). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.