Recently the story of Noah has been popping up everywhere I look. From memes on social media to books I’ve been reading, a reference to this faithful man’s life has been suspiciously conspicuous. Which generally means Father is wanting me to pay attention because there is likely a lesson to be learned.
I opened my Bible to Genesis 6 and immediately saw the heading “A World Gone Wrong.” Yep, seems pretty fitting for today. I’m living in a culture that is torpedoing its way toward godlessness at full speed. Thankfully, it is not as bad as it was in the days of Noah. While there are definite signs of the devil hard at work, there are also signs of God’s Spirit alive and well in hundreds of thousands of people. Not so in Noah’s time. In those days, God’s heart was broken by the sheer existence of mankind. Everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil (see Genesis 6:5-6, NLT).
But Noah found favor with the LORD . . . . Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on the earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.
— Genesis 6:8-9, NLT
During one of these times of fellowship, God told Noah He was going to flood and destroy the entire earth, along with all of its occupants. All except for Noah and his family. But there was a catch. In order to be saved, Noah would need to partner with God to fulfill a task to rescue his family (and the posterity of the animals, too).
I imagine the conversation might have seemed a bit nonsensical to Noah since he had never experienced a flood before. Some biblical scholars even surmise that rain may not have fallen from the sky during Noah’s lifetime but that the earth was watered from a mist that came up from the ground (Genesis 2:6). Although the rain vs. no rain topic is debatable, God’s plans for Noah were not.
God told Noah to build an ark that was astronomical in size and seemingly illogical in purpose. I imagine the initial conversation could have gone something like this:
GOD: Noah, I’m going to flood the earth.
NOAH: A flood? What’s that?
GOD: Well, I’m going to send rain. A lot of rain.
NOAH: Umm… what’s rain?
GOD: Instead of just mist arising from the earth, it’s going to fall down from the heavens. That’s rain. In addition to this, the waters from underneath the ground are going to erupt. Between the two, it will cause a flood that will cover the whole earth with water. A lot of water. For months.
NOAH: Okaaaay . . . So you want me to build a boat?
GOD: Yes, Noah. A big one. One big enough for you and your family. Oh, and also for a pair of every bird and animal on the earth.
NOAH: Okay, God. Wait a minute . . . what?!?
GOD: Don’t worry. I’m going to send them to you when everything’s set. It may take a few years.
NOAH: You mean like lions and tigers and bears? Oh, my!
GOD: Exactly. So, here’s the plan . . .
I want you to build a three-story ark. It needs to be 450 feet long, and 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. That should be enough room. Make sure it has stalls and adequate storage space because it’s going to get really crowded. And it most likely will get a bit smelly, too, so be sure to leave an 18-inch opening below the roof that runs all the way around the boat. That should help with ventilation. You’ll also need to bring along enough food to feed you and your family and all the animals.
I’m asking you to do this because you alone have found favor with me. Everyone and everything else is going to be destroyed. But this boat is going to save you and your family. It’s time to get busy. You should probably start today because it’s going to take awhile — a long while. Like several decades, at least.
You’re going to need to man up, Noah. There will be times when you’ll be tempted to become discouraged. It’s going to take a lot of work. People will ridicule you and question your sanity. But I am with you in this. Remember that your strength to live right is in Me, as is your ability to complete this task. This is your purpose now, Noah. Live like your life depends upon it. Because it does.
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God called Noah to partner with Him in His plan for salvation. He asked him to do things that did not make any logical sense to Noah or to the people surrounding him. But Noah did not allow that to stop him from following through with obedience to God’s word. I imagine he continued to keep his friendship with God primary through it all. Otherwise, I doubt he could have completed such a mammoth task. A calling that would take decades to complete, one that required an insane amount of labor and ingenuity. Can you imagine how challenging it must have been at times? Especially when you realize he did all of this before the days of power tools or heavy equipment like cranes and bulldozers.
Perhaps hardest of all, Noah lived out his purpose in full view of an evil society. I can hear the haters now — the mocking, the shaming, the name-calling. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year. Decade after decade. And still, Noah continued on with obedience and a righteous heart. Despite it all, He remained faithful to God and to the task at hand.
From day one through year twenty-six, cutting and dragging trees, building trusses, hauling and gathering and hammering. Picture Noah fifty years into a building project that seemed like it may never end. How about sixty years of encouraging his wife and family that God was in this? That they were favored by the Most High even if they were scorned by their neighbors. Then round the corner into seventy plus years of struggling to provide and to gather resources, fitting everything into an ark that had taken shape yet still sat empty.
Noah may have spent decades wondering if he had misunderstood God, but still trusting Him above the doubts from both without and within. Imagine his sense of wonder as animals started showing up, seeking the shelter provided by his hands in response to God’s word. And finally, being told that this was the day. The day his purpose was fulfilled, as God shut Noah in the ark and the first drops of rain began to patter against the roof of salvation.
You may not be called to build an ark, but you have been called to partner with God in a purpose that is bigger than you are. One that may require more of you than you feel you have the strength to give. One that may seem farfetched and impractical.
Perhaps you can relate with Noah in working for years without seeing much of a reward for your labors. Without experiencing the answer to a prayer that you were certain God had promised you. Maybe you doubt the dream you were pursuing will ever come to fruition. It’s taken so long already, and you’re not sure you have another hammer swing in you.
Maybe you’ve been partnering with God faithfully year after year, but the length of time passing is beginning to take its toll on you, and you’re feeling worn down from it all. Noah would be the first to understand and the first to encourage you to stay the course, no matter how tempting it is to quit.
If you are in Christ, then you are up for the task to which God has called you. Right here in this corner of your world. You were placed here for a reason, even if that reason seems unclear or confusing at times. Or insignificant. Or just downright exhausting.
God is calling you to show up again today, whether it is Day #1 or Day #24,967 in your journey of partnering with Him. Because what you do matters, friend. Who you love matters, and how you pursue your friendship with Father matters most of all.
Don’t give in to doubts or cave to weariness. Keep walking forward with obedience, no matter the haters on the sidelines. There is a goal to which you have been called. And when you near the finish line, you will know the exhilaration of the journey that has led you there. You will experience the faithful hand of Father shutting you in on every side.
Even as those first drops of rain begin to fall.
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FOR REFLECTION
What is God asking you to do to build His kingdom right here?
No matter what it is, connection with Father is the key. Staying up close to Him will keep you resilient and steadfast in your faith when all of society or your circumstances tell you to turn away. Your connection with God is the starting point, and the middle ground, and the end-all of your purpose. Your task is to simply partner with Him.
He sets the boundaries of people and nations, determining their appointed times in history. He has done this so that every person would long for God, feel their way to him, and find him—for he is the God who is easy to discover! It is through him that we live and function and have our identity; just as your own poets have said, ‘Our lineage comes from him.’
— Acts 17:26-28, TPT