What the Bible says about Noah is what we all wish was true about us. It tells us that Noah “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Noah was a trustworthy man in an untrustworthy world. In a world that had rejected God, Noah stood fast in his faith. Because of this, God gave him an unusual mission to fulfill. He was told to build a boat on dry ground because it was going to rain. These few words would change the world forever: it’s going to rain.
The challenge for Noah is that it had never rained before. God had watered the earth from underneath the ground up to that time. So, Noah was going to have to trust in the word of God about something he had never seen or experienced for himself. Sometimes, when God wants to accomplish something, He finds just the right person to do it—one who is trustworthy, who will remain faithful and keep believing even when everyone else thinks they are a fool.
Noah didn’t listen to the other voices that questioned his actions. He obeyed God. He started building a boat and preaching a message. He told people that it was going to rain because God had said so. Even though it was outside of his experience and theirs, he showed his commitment by doing what God had asked him to do.
Noah didn’t listen to the other voices that questioned his actions.
He began the process by building during the day and, I’m sure, preaching in the evening, letting the people know that the boat was available for anyone who wanted to join him in his upcoming journey. It was to be an ark of safety for anyone who would take advantage of it—salvation for anyone who would enter into it.
God will do something similar with you and me. He will invite us, challenging us to believe in things we’ve never seen before; things we don’t fully understand, but that are predicated on His divine Word and spiritual revelation. Like Noah, we have to begin acting based on what God says. As we do, we will experience something similar to what happened with Noah and his family—deliverance. The only other option is destruction for those who refuse to believe.
When it comes down to choosing between believing God and following the culture around you, you’d better stick with God, because He is the source of your deliverance. That’s the good news of our salvation: Jesus Christ is our deliverance. Deliverance doesn’t come through our own wisdom and understanding, or through our own good works.
You’d better stick with God, because He is the source of your deliverance.
When the time came, the door to the ark was shut. Everyone outside the ark lost their lives. Noah and his family were saved.
The challenge of pleasing God is simply the challenge of obedience—even when we don’t know the time frame of that obedience or all that it will require from us. We must obey in the midst of our uncertainty and all our questions. When we do, we’ll see Him intervene in our circumstances, both for our benefit and for the benefit of those we love.
Noah was a father, and as a father he had to cover his family. This is the job men are called to as heads of their households. You cover your family by obeying God even when it requires you to go in a completely different direction than the rest of your culture. I assure you: it will be worth it. You might not see immediate results, but if you stick to the path of obedience, like Noah you can become a kingdom hero and see God’s deliverance burst forth all around you.
