Empowered by Faith: Lesson 2

HE’S BUILDING A WHAT?!

Noah

Key Verse

“This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”

Genesis 6:9

Read Genesis 6:9-8:22

Key Points

• Noah obeyed God when it made absolutely no sense

• Noah ignored everyone else around him

• Sometimes God has us prepare to do His will months & years in advance

Overview

Noah obeyed God when it made absolutely no sense

Not a cloud in the sky. The weather was nice and clear. Yet God told Noah it was going to rain, to rain hard. The Earth would be covered in water. God told Noah he needed to build a boat, a really big boat. A boat big enough to hold Noah’s family and a lot of animals plus the food for all of them. Yes, that is a very big boat. Building the ark was NOT going to be a weekend project. This was going to take some time. God let Noah know that was no time to waste. Not a cloud in the sky. But the rain was coming. God told Noah so!

Noah ignored everyone else around him

Like I said above, building the ark wasn’t a weekend project. It took Noah time to build a boat, a ship that big. The ark was a ship that could be seen for miles. It took Noah a long time, many years to build the ark. Noah and his sons didn’t have any modern construction equipment. They worked on the ark day after day and it got bigger and bigger. Word had to get out that some guy out in the middle of nowhere was building a big boat, a great big boat.

People simple HAD to come by to look at this boat. I know I would! Not a cloud in the sky. Don’t you think the people in the community had to be talking about Noah and his family? Can’t you just see people standing around, making fun of Noah and his family? It had to get discouraging for Noah from time to time. Some people might have given up. Yet Noah ignored the comments, ignored the clear weather and just kept on building the ark.

Sometimes God has us prepare to do His will months & years in advance

As I said, it took Noah years to build the ark. There had to be days Noah felt like quitting yet he pressed on, even as the years, the decades passed. God knew the rain was coming. God told Noah to prepare by building an ark, gathering the animals and food. God knew decades in advance the flood would come. God knew it would take Noah and his sons years and years to get ready so God called Noah in plenty of time. Noah had exactly the right amount of time to complete the job God had for him. And Noah kept at it until he was done.

For Today

God calls us to do things in His time. We may need years to prepare for the task He wants us to do. Sometimes, we can’t see the end of the road and it can get to be very frustrating. Patience may be a virtue but it doesn’t come easy. We might become frightened that we misunderstood what God told us to do. I often wonder if Noah began to question his message from God. Perhaps he heard the wrong thing. Perhaps he didn’t hear anything at all! No matter any doubts Noah may have had over the years, he still had faith in God and in the call God had placed on him.

No matter how much time it took, no matter how hard the work, no matter what others said, Noah kept on with the work God called him to do, to complete. Noah’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of his family was rewarded in ways they never imagined possible.

Faith Vs. Fear

Like Noah, God often calls us to do things that seem ridiculous. Who builds a huge ship when it’s not even raining? Who prepares for a flood when the sky is clear and blue? Was Noah even trained enough to build a ship? God certainly thought Noah had what it took to do the job. And God believes you have what it takes to do whatever it is He is calling you to do.

We must work to be strong in our faith, to overcome our fears so we are able to focus on the tasks God is calling us to do. And we must remain strong when others around us have no faith. While we may clearly understand what God is asking us to do, others may not be able to see the same thing we do. We must hold onto the vision God places on our hearts and push ahead no matter how long it takes. The rain is bound to come eventually!

Consider This

Have you ever ignored God’s leading because you were afraid what others would say or think?

What is your personal version of the Ark, a task God has called you to do that takes more time than you think it should?

How do you strengthen yourself so you are able to complete your Ark & ignore the comments of others?