Building an Ark When It's Never Even Rained
And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him (Genesis 7:5).
For a moment, close your eyes and imagine something with me. Imagine a boat that is bigger than a football field. Imagine trying to build this boat, with no electricity, no modern technology, and no army of workers. Now imagine building this boat in the middle of dry land, far away from any sea. Finally, imagine doing this when it has never even rained!
Essentially, this is what God commanded Noah to do. The ark that Noah built was a truly gigantic edifice, so big that it took him one hundred years to build. It had never rained on earth (the climate was different in pre-Flood times), and Noah was being commanded to build a boat on dry land! It made no sense at all to the natural mind.
Imagine how Noah must have been mocked and laughed at. The evil men and women that were filling the world at that point must have made a huge joke out of Noah’s efforts. Certainly everyone thought he was insane to be building this boat on dry land. It consumed all of his energy, efforts, and resources. Yet, Noah knew God had commanded him to build it, and he obeyed.
And it’s an excellent thing he obeyed! Noah’s obedience preserved the human race during the flood, and we are all now his descendants. If he had disobeyed this seemingly ludicrous instruction, all life on earth would have ended. His obedience led to great blessing for himself, his family, and all of us that are still on earth.
The point for us today is that we must obey God, no matter what His instructions to us are. God may sometimes ask us to do things that seem to make no sense at all. Sometimes the right decision is not the one that we would make through natural wisdom. But if you are going to be used of God to bring blessing to your generation, you must be willing to do what doesn’t make sense to your mind and obey God.
When I was 17, I was offered a scholarship to my dream school, the University of Michigan. Accepting the scholarship and graduating from there would have led to great opportunities in the future, and accepting it certainly seemed to be the most logical choice. However, God spoke to me that I should not go to U of M, but should instead wait and attend Bible school. By God’s grace, I obeyed His instruction and learned that what seems like the most sensible choice is not always the best choice. We should always obey God over our own minds.
Obeying God is always the best way to go, and is our duty as a Christian. And when we do obey, He brings great blessing upon us. So be willing to do something crazy for God. Is he asking you to go to the mission field? Share the Gospel to the toughest person you know? Turn down a lucrative job offer for something else? Follow Noah’s example; build an ark when it’s never even rained. You can bring salvation to your generation.
For a moment, close your eyes and imagine something with me. Imagine a boat that is bigger than a football field. Imagine trying to build this boat, with no electricity, no modern technology, and no army of workers. Now imagine building this boat in the middle of dry land, far away from any sea. Finally, imagine doing this when it has never even rained!
Essentially, this is what God commanded Noah to do. The ark that Noah built was a truly gigantic edifice, so big that it took him one hundred years to build. It had never rained on earth (the climate was different in pre-Flood times), and Noah was being commanded to build a boat on dry land! It made no sense at all to the natural mind.Imagine how Noah must have been mocked and laughed at. The evil men and women that were filling the world at that point must have made a huge joke out of Noah’s efforts. Certainly everyone thought he was insane to be building this boat on dry land. It consumed all of his energy, efforts, and resources. Yet, Noah knew God had commanded him to build it, and he obeyed.
And it’s an excellent thing he obeyed! Noah’s obedience preserved the human race during the flood, and we are all now his descendants. If he had disobeyed this seemingly ludicrous instruction, all life on earth would have ended. His obedience led to great blessing for himself, his family, and all of us that are still on earth.
The point for us today is that we must obey God, no matter what His instructions to us are. God may sometimes ask us to do things that seem to make no sense at all. Sometimes the right decision is not the one that we would make through natural wisdom. But if you are going to be used of God to bring blessing to your generation, you must be willing to do what doesn’t make sense to your mind and obey God.
When I was 17, I was offered a scholarship to my dream school, the University of Michigan. Accepting the scholarship and graduating from there would have led to great opportunities in the future, and accepting it certainly seemed to be the most logical choice. However, God spoke to me that I should not go to U of M, but should instead wait and attend Bible school. By God’s grace, I obeyed His instruction and learned that what seems like the most sensible choice is not always the best choice. We should always obey God over our own minds.
Obeying God is always the best way to go, and is our duty as a Christian. And when we do obey, He brings great blessing upon us. So be willing to do something crazy for God. Is he asking you to go to the mission field? Share the Gospel to the toughest person you know? Turn down a lucrative job offer for something else? Follow Noah’s example; build an ark when it’s never even rained. You can bring salvation to your generation.
posted by Cameron at 2:44 AM
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