When God gave Noah directions on building the ark and bringing together the animals, he included one last instruction. He told him to take all food that could be eaten and gather it for everyone to eat while on the ark.
I imagine that this last task fell on Mrs. Noah and her daughters-in-law. While the men were building the boat, the women went to work, gardening, gathering, and preserving. How long would they be in the ark and how much food would they need? They had no idea. What did all the animals eat? How could they possibly know what to feed all the different animals? They didn’t. They just had to collect, prepare, and stockpile as much as they could.
Once the ark was complete, and they had all the food they could store, they began loading up. For seven days Noah and his family herded animals onto the ark, stocked the ark pantry, and get everyone settled in. Once they were all inside, God shut the door and sent the rain.
It rained for forty days and nights, then it took months for the flood waters to subside. The family and animals ended up being in the ark almost exactly a year.
I don’t know how much food the family packed, but however much it was, it couldn’t have been enough to feed eight adults and two of every species of animals for a year. And yet, no one starved. God took whatever they had and made it last.
Sometimes God calls us to tasks that are way bigger than us. So, we do all that we can do, and then we give it to him to make the most of our contributions.
Mrs. Noah and God’s Provision in the Bible: