It usually takes a longer time to clear a mess than to create it. It had only rained for 40 days and nights, but the flood water it left behind took up to 12 months to clear. Noah entered the ark when he was 600 years old, he came out in the second month of his 601st year. Perhaps that would qualify for the greatest lockdown in history. The other way the water could have cleared instantly was if God employed a miracle. Since He spoke things into existence, He could have commanded and the water would have evaporated instantly. Refusing to go that route shows that God did not design everything to run by miracles.
It is true that God still works miracles, but it is not to indulge anyone’s messy life.
While Noah was getting ready to enter the ark, God commanded him to take onboard all kinds of animals and birds. He was to have a pair of each specie – male and female. “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19 NKJV). God didn’t have to go through the process of creation again after the flood. The survivors became the natural process by which He restored all things, and not by a sudden miracle. We possibly know people who keep messing up their lives for years and hoping that a miracle will clear up their mess at once. It is true that God still works miracles, but it is not to indulge anyone’s messy life.