Noah walked with God. -Genesis 6:9 (NKJV)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
For we walk by faith, not by sight. -II Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)
In the sixth book of Genesis, the fairly young and fallen world had gone terribly astray. Evil and wickedness reigned, but there was one man who still walked with God: Noah.
We all know the story: God tasks Noah with building an ark to His specifications, assuring Noah that he and his family will need it when He destroys all living things on the face of the earth. Once the ark is built, Noah is to bring in clean (suitable for sacrifice) pairs of animals so the earth may be renumbered after anything outside the ark is wiped out.
Can you imagine what it must’ve been like to hear such a thing from the Lord? You might say that would be some serious pressure, and that pressure would only build over time.
Imagine that with each passing day of gathering gopherwood to cut and construct this ark…and each passing spring, summer, autumn, and winter…and each year…where there is no sign of change at all in the skies. It’s silent from the Lord as Noah and his family toil. There would likely be many people in the area who would openly mock and deride Noah and his family for their seemingly insane devotion to the Lord.
I don’t know about you, but doubt might creep into my head from time to time! Could I have been mistaken about what I thought the Lord wanted me to do? Am I needlessly going down this path? It doesn’t make any sense!
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
There’s a saying that the Lord can be silent sometimes, because a teacher is quiet during a test.
Just like Noah, keep going to the next round. And the next. Even when there seems to be no change. What He has spoken to you, stay true to it.
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. -Mark 9:23 (NKJV)
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. -Mark 11:24 (NKJV)
Pray to the Lord for faith, endurance, strength, wisdom, courage, and peace in your heart…especially when there seems to be no reason to harbor any of them.
Noah finished the ark, loaded the animals on it, and likely in the face of lots of hostility from his neighbors, he did as the Lord said. He and his family survived terrible storms and waves. And during those times, doubt and fear could again overtake them in their creaking ship.
But know this: The Lord never fails.
As you know, the Lord specified a single window on the ark, finished to a cubit, facing the sky. Facing the Lord. This is the only way to look when the world and its circumstances want you to doubt and crash and burn.
Noah walked with God. That meant He followed God and trusted in Him when his eyes and mind and heart may have doubted. But God’s walk is the only sure walk.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. -Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
Stay the course. Never stop praying. Never stop believing. He who promised is faithful, and the waves will subside. And as He has done so many times before, He will safely ground your ship again, and you will set foot on the new ground He has promised you.
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