Trust Like Noah

January 28, 2021

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

~Genesis 6:22~

Noah had a pretty interesting calling upon his life. Called by God as the only righteous man left on earth to construct an ark in specific measurments, gather a precise amount of animals in pairs and unite his family to hop aboard and wait on God to close the door and leave them inside as the earth awaited its impending flood. Lets start off by realizing how old Noah was in this moment when God called him to build an ark; "And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

(Genesis 5:32)

So not only did Noah walk with God this long faithfully, but he now was about to be called after all these years to build something he has never built before for something he had never witnessed before. It takes an immense amount of trust in God to go through this task! I think I can speak for most of us when I say we would all struggle with the idea of building something this massive in faith in an uncertain event. We tend to have a hard enough time trusting in little things God tells us, let alone an ark big enough to hold two of every animal and our family.

This verse today shows Noahs pure obedience to the Father. It shows us that everything the Father instructed of him to do, he did it exactly so. People pointing fingers at him, calling him crazy, judging him and laughing at him and all the while the earth was full of wicked things to begin with. Not only did Noah have to put in the intense hours of labor, but he did so all in the presence of wicked people tearing him down. Yet, he did not let his faith waver. We can take notes from our fellow brother, Noah. We are told to have unwavering faith in God, to not allow people to dictate what we believe the Lord to do for us; "Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help." (Psalms 146:3)

You could say five hundred years of experience with God gave Noah some wisdom that he could not trust in people to help him. He held on to his belief in God and his saving grace. We too, should not rely on people to save us, as Jesus tells us He is the only way to the Father; "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

(John 14:6)

When we cast aside any arguments thrown at us to doubt in the promises of God, we hold onto our pure faith tightly and we show the Lord that we mean buisness. We have it pretty simple these days if you really look at Noahs story; only him, his family and these animals were saved. He had to watch as the entire world was wiped out after he tried to warn people, yet they did not listen. Today we have a promise from God that He would never do this again to the world; "And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." (Genesis 8:21)

We should be giving thanks to God every day for this covenant He made with Noah and the earth that this would not happen ever again. We should also be thanking our brother Noah, for had he not been so obedient and pleased the Lord, who knows what would of happened or if any such covenant could of been made. Our trust and faith should never waver in this world for we do not know what the Lord has in store for us. We know Jesus warns us of the end times and that it will be as in the days of Noah; "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man." (Luke 17:26)

We know His promise of not destorying the whole earth is kept, however, we also know judgement is still set upon the wicked, just as in the days of Noah. Thanks to Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross we have total freedom from being subject to wrath, yet we are still going to be called to trust in Him in these times. When things continue to get more wicked as the Day approaches, we are to grasp tightly on Jesus as our only way out, just as Noah did in that moment of waiting. We are called to be righteous in Christ, just as Noah was to God in his time. When we are living unholy lives, claiming to trust in Jesus yet still wavering in our faith and complaining about the things He calls us to do; we cannot expect the greatest outcome in the end. We may be caught off guard, just as all those people were when the flood suddenly came upon them. It will happen so quickly. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

(Matthew 24:38‭-‬39)

Jesus warns us that if we get too comfortable in the world and take our eyes off Him we may end up in shock when He returns. We may even be doing something we really shouldn't be. "But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

(Matthew 24:48‭-‬51)

These are words right from the Lord's own mouth. Warnings of turning aside from evil and trusting in only Him. When we do we will walk as righteous men and women of God and we will hear His voice as He prepares us to be ready for Him, just as Noah heard His call and was ready for Him. "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!" (I Corinthians 6:15)

Just because Jesus died for us and gave us the choice to believe in Him does not mean we can now use our bodies to do what so ever we desire. In fact, it is the opposite. We are now His Body. Whatever we do, we are doing to Him as we call ourselves believers. This we will all have to answer for at the judgement seat. Be like Noah, trust in Jesus with whatever He needs of you. Do all that is necessary for Him. In the end it will be accounted to us as righteousness. "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

(Hebrews 11:7)

Let us, by faith, being warned of the things to come by our Lord Jesus Christ, live our life for Him alone and trust that no matter what happens around us; as we lean on Him He is the only One to save us from wrath. Frankly, we are blessed to know we will not be called to build an ark at five hundred years old. Focus on just how blessed you really have it!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your unwavering faith towards us as You made this covenant with Noah and all generations that never again You would destroy the whole earth. I am grateful at the amazing faith presented in his story so I can be reminded just how blessed I truely have it here. Help me to remain focused on Christ as the days pass by and we approach His Day closer. For I do not know the time or day but I do know You are faithful and as long as I live for You I will be hidden in Your tabernacle on the Day of judgement. Remind me each day Lord what it is I need to toss aside or who I need to take my eyes off of to become closer to You. I want to walk with You just as Noah did. I want to rely solely on Your divine plans, for I know there are none better. Show me what I am to accomplish today for You to give Your Name glory and honor. I praise You for the many blessings in my life and thank you that I have a much easier task in life then Your previous servants did. Im grateful for this grace and mercy You present me with each day. I receive this and give all the praise to You. It is in Your Son's powerful, unwavering Name I pray, Jesus Christ. Amen.