Prefer to listen instead? The audio version of this article is available at relateecm.com.

This audio is AI-narrated and may mispronounce some names and places.

Welcome to a brand-new kind of Bible study at Uncle Ricky’s Bible — this one isn’t a lecture. Pull up a chair on the porch and listen in as Uncle Ricky, Biscuit, and Olive talk their way through Genesis chapter 8: Noah, the ark, and the little dove who carried the first sign of a brand-new world.

RICKY: Howdy, friends, and welcome to Bible study. Today I’ve got my cohosts with me, and we’re going to Genesis chapter 8 — Noah, the ark, and a little dove who changed everything. Biscuit, Olive — y’all ready?

BISCUIT: Ready? I was born ready. And just so everybody knows, if Noah had sent me out that window, I’d have found dry land in one trip. One. Trip.

OLIVE: Biscuit, you can’t fly.

BISCUIT: …It’s the thought that counts.

RICKY: Well, the Bible tells us God sent a dove, and there’s a reason for that. But first, look at how the chapter opens. Genesis 8 and 1: “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.” Friends, God remembered Noah. He’d been in that ark a long, long time. If you’re in a season where all you can see is water, hear this: God has not forgotten you.

OLIVE: Uncle Ricky, why did Noah start sending birds out at all?

RICKY: Good question, sweet girl. Noah couldn’t see a map of the world. All he could do was open the window and check. First he sent a raven — verse 7 says the raven “went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up.” That raven never really came back. Ravens will feed on whatever’s floating out there. But the dove was different.

BISCUIT: Here comes my favorite part. Tell ’em what happened the first time, Uncle Ricky.

RICKY: Genesis 8, verses 8 and 9: “Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.” Notice that — Noah didn’t scold her for coming back empty. He reached out his hand and pulled her in.

OLIVE: That’s so sweet. She tried, and it just wasn’t time yet, and he still loved her.

RICKY: That’s exactly right, and don’t miss what Noah did next. Verse 10: he stayed yet other seven days, and sent her out again. When God’s answer is “not yet,” faith doesn’t quit — faith waits a week and checks again. And the second trip — oh, friends — verse 11: “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.”

BISCUIT: An olive leaf! First green thing anybody’d seen in a year! I get goosebumps and I’m covered in fur!

OLIVE: So the leaf was God’s way of saying, “It’s almost time”?

RICKY: That’s the prettiest way I’ve ever heard it put. The leaf wasn’t the whole promise — the water wasn’t gone yet. But it was the first sign of the new world God was making. And Noah waited seven more days and sent her out a third time — and that time, she didn’t come back, because she’d found a home in the new world God had prepared.

BISCUIT: Well… I still say I’d have found the leaf faster. But I’ll give the dove her due. She did good.

RICKY: She did good. And here’s what I want you to carry home: the same God who remembered Noah remembers you. Send out your prayers like Noah sent that dove. If they come back without an answer, wait on the Lord and send them again. God’s first green leaf is coming — and behind it, a whole new season. And don’t forget how the story ends: God put His bow in the cloud and said, “And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.” He keeps His promises, friends. Every single one.

OLIVE: I’m going to go hide now — but today I learned something before I hid!

RICKY: That’s our study, friends. Same time next study — bring your Bibles, and bring a friend.

— Uncle Ricky

Enjoying the porch conversations? Our shop has mugs, shirts, and more to carry the Word with you — take a look around the shop at relateecm.com.