The Story of Noah: A Faithful Voyage
Hello Friends,
It is Hot…HoT…HOT outside! I hope you have been able to stay safe and cool these past few days. Maybe you have been enjoying the air-conditioning or have gone swimming a few times or have taken it upon yourself to eat lots of ice cream and popsicles in hopes of finding ways to stay cool! I have been spending my days mostly inside, looking out my office window, imagining all the things I should be doing outside, but it is just way too HOT! So, do you have any advice for ways of staying cool on these hot days?
In order to keep my mind cool (and maybe praying for rain), I keep thinking about a guy by the name of Noah. Do you recognize that name? Do you remember what Noah did? That’s right! He built a really BIG boat that saved himself and his family and lots and lots and lots of animals. Do you know why he built that really BIG boat? Because it God was going to make it rain for FORTY DAY and for FORTY NIGHTS. But there is more to the story. I wonder what this story can teach us today? Let’s find out…it’s time to take a faithful voyage!
First, we learn that God has feelings. It saddens Him when we don’t follow Him. The Lord saw how bad the sins of the people had become on the earth. All of the thoughts in their hearts were always directed toward doing bad things. The world had become evil. The Lord was very sad that he had made man on the earth. His heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, “I created man on the earth. But I will wipe them out. I will destroy people and animals alike. I will also destroy the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air. I am very sad that I have made man.”
But the Lord was pleased with Noah. God was pleased with one man on the earth. One man! Only one man and his family followed God. Here is the story of Noah. Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked with God. Noah had three sons. Their names were Shem, Ham and Japheth. The earth was very sinful in God’s eyes. It was full of mean and harmful acts. God saw how sinful the earth had become. All of the people on earth were leading very sinful lives.
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people. They have filled the earth with their harmful acts. You can be sure that I am going to destroy both them and the earth. God was so upset with how the people of the world were, He decided to wipe them off the planet. How would you have liked to have been Noah at that time? God has just told him that the whole world was going to be wiped out! He hasn’t said anything yet about saving Noah. God said, “So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it. Leave the sides of the ark open a foot and a half from the top. Put a door in one side of the ark. Make lower, middle and upper decks.”
Then God said, “I am going to bring a flood on the earth. It will destroy all life under the sky. It will destroy every living creature that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will make my covenant with you. You will enter the ark. Your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will enter it with you. Bring two of every living thing into the ark. Bring male and female of them into it. They will be kept alive with you. Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Take every kind of food that you will need. Store it away. It will be food for you and for them.”
Second, Noah did everything exactly as God commanded him. God wanted to save Noah. So God gave Noah specific directions on how he could be saved. He had to build the ark. He had to follow God’s directions – every little step – in order to be saved. God fills Noah in on how He’s going to destroy the earth. He’s going to send a flood. Noah did everything EXACTLY the way God told him. When was the last time you did EXACTLY what you were supposed to do?
Third, Noah trusted and had faith in God. Did you notice that there were no lifeboats mentioned. Not a single one. The Ark had NO lifeboats. There was no “Plan B”. If the ARK didn’t float—it was all over—everything was lost. Noah’s total faith and trust had to be in GOD and in God’s ONE PLAN of salvation. And that’s the way with us. There is no Plan B. Jesus is the only way this thing works for us, and Jesus only works if we place ALL of our trust in Him. On this voyage of faith, if we trust in Jesus, then there is no need for a lifeboat since Jesus is our source of salvation and is always in our boat. Also, God never mentions a rudder or ship’s wheel on this giant boat. Noah had NO WAY to control which way the ship was going to go. He was TOTALLY at the mercy of God. He had to let God take control. He had to let God take him wherever God wanted him to go. We could learn a lot from Noah, because God had a direction He wanted Noah to go, and God has a direction that He wants us to go. God wants us to do good works. And these good works don’t involve doing harm to others, or excluding others, or even putting others down when God needs us to build them up. God is the wheel, Jesus is the rudder, and the Holy Spirit is the wind pushing us to the shore, to the place, where the gospel stories need to be heard.
On this Faithful Voyage, God is reminding us, through Noah, that we must strive to keep God happy, that we must do our best to do what God needs us to do, and that we need to let God take control for us. We can’t do everything on our own. We need help. We need guidance. We need Jesus. This week, as you pray for rain, think about the story of Noah and God saved him just like God is saving you!
Your Friend, Holy Spirit!
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