By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7, NIV)
Let’s stick with the ancients, shall we? Yesterday Randy Wolff wrote of Job, today we’ll set our minds to Noah. Sure, some of you might be more interested in the Tom Morrises, young and old, but hang on—there could be something really good for you here.
The account of Noah is as familiar, of course, as the back nine at Augusta National, especially if you grew up going to Sunday school. Noah’s ark and rainbow were staples of the flannelboard wonderland our teachers used to put pictures in our head, in turn making the pages of Scripture come to life.
I’m not sure there were deep lessons in the animal two-by-twos and the 40 days and 40 nights of rain, but we learned the facts and we’ve clung to them all these years (though you may have to remind me again just what a cubit is).
Today when I come to these old, old stories, I look for where the revelation may be meant for me. And this time I find it before and in the midst of the storm.
Now, adrift on the waters, by faith he trusted that a rescue he could not see was coming too. The dead man would be resurrected.The world around Noah was a nasty one. Scripture tells us that man’s wickedness was great and that “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). This grieved the Lord and “his heart was filled with pain.” (Note to my preaching-prone self: Don’t ever suggest that God is happy to bring judgment upon the disobedient. He is far too hurt that it has come to this.)
But in the midst of all this darkness, Noah was a shining light. Righteous among the people. Blameless. Walking with God. I wrote of Noah’s standout life six weeks ago, recognizing that the truly righteous get noticed. They are different in all the right ways.
This time, I want us to see something different—Noah walked with God. It was what made him righteous, made him blameless, made him steady on his sinner’s feet. Noah was like the rest of us in his nature. He could go to sinning with the harvest of his vineyard, as you and I can with whatever it is that plots to steal our souls. But this was not his routine. Unlike all around him, Noah’s routine was to spend time with God. It was how he did not succumb to the wickedness of his day. And it was how he weathered the storm.
You see, the day came when Noah had every reason to doubt. On a boat in a downpour that would not cease, bobbing loosely, aching for firm ground beneath him. But because Noah had walked with God, he could sail with him, too. Without compass, without course, Noah could have believed that he and his family were doing the dead man’s float. Instead by faith, we are taught by the writer of Hebrews, Noah built that boat. He did it to survive horrors he could not yet see. And now, adrift on the waters, by faith he trusted that a rescue he could not see was coming too. The dead man would be resurrected.
Oh, to be that steady in faith—in the outburst of the culture’s evil, in the deluge of sickness and pain, in the torrent of uncertain fear, in the monsoon of bankruptcy and loss. Oh, to walk with God in all our days, whatever they bring!
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Jeff Hopper
March 5, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.