Tenacious Faith

Building an ark is not a small "do-it-yourself" project. There is an expense; it takes a lot of resources. Along with the resources, it takes a significant amount of skill. What kinds of skills did Noah have? The Bible tells us that after the flood, Noah becomes a vine-dresser. Most likely, he returns to his pre-ark building employment. The skillset of a vine-dresser is very different from the skillset needed to build an ark. Noah's occupation before his position as an ark builder is not recorded in scripture, but I wonder if his first woodworking craft was the ark.

I can see it now. Noah has drawn out how he thinks the ark will look. He has taken notes from God and knows what materials he is going to need. In his hand is the list of additional tools that will be required to do the job. Knowing that there is no local hardware store, he heads next door to borrow tools from his neighbor. He knocks on his neighbor's door; please keep in mind that he is over four-hundred and eighty years old. His neighbor answers the door, and Noah asks to borrow tools to build an ark.

Okay, so that probably didn't happen. Realistically, we don't know a lot about Noah, except he is a good guy who is just trying to do the right thing in a world that is not doing the right thing. In today's world, every Christian should feel like Noah. Living in a world full of disobedience and discord, Christians should stand out like a man building a boat in the desert. I am quite sure Noah feels alienated. Surely he is different from his peers, or God would not have found him innocent and the others guilty.

It amazes me when I think of how different from society Noah must have been. I feel like it is necessary to stop here and say, "Noah is not perfect." Nowhere does scripture connect Noah's righteousness to his works. What scripture says is that Noah was counted as righteous because he walked with God. Simply, Noah's relationship with God made him clean. Please keep in mind that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It all boils down to Noah is the only man on the earth to be walking with God. Everyone else has abandoned God. Talk about an abundance of negative peer pressure.

So, here we have Noah, he is living a life in communion with God. Then, God calls him out of his obscurity and tells him to do something that will cause him to stand out like a sore thumb. It is quite possible that for roughly the first five-hundred years of his life, Noah managed to live under the radar. Then God says, "Noah, build a boat. A big boat." Noah has a decision to make. Noah can either continue in his life in obscurity or go big.

Can you imagine what his neighbors are thinking? I am quite sure the president of his HOA (Home Owners Association) has a problem with him building an Ark in his front yard. Do you think he faces ridicule for ruining the neighborhood? At the very least, the ark becomes a symbol of the godlessness of the world. When God's plumb line is held up to sin, discomfort and animosity are created. I am quite sure the ark garnered criticism and most likely hate.

If we use Noah's calling as an example, why would so many Christians think following God's calling is be easy? Why are Christians surprised when others do not understand their calling? I look at Noah and am sure his friends and family must think he is a nut, at the very least, they must believe that he is overzealous or misguided. The Bible doesn't say how people respond to him. I have to think that in many ways, Noah feels alone in his conviction. But, it doesn't matter; there is Noah, day after day, building a big old boat. Against all the odds, he is building a big old boat and dodging insults and criticism, while building a big old boat. No indication that he is on the right track, but building a big old boat. He is building a big old boat, and no one thinks there is any value to what he is doing until the rain starts. The best we can tell, it takes somewhere between fifty and one hundred and twenty years of building for Noah to complete the ark.

Let's stop for a minute and connect the story of Noah to the concept of faith. Is it possible that faith is continuing in the behavior God has called you to even if there is no indication or validation that you are on the right track? You know that Noah could have hung up his hammer and said, "God, this is too big, too hard, too expensive, too crazy." He doesn't. He just keeps on building. I just wonder if, during this time, his wife shares her concerns about the well-being of the family, his pension, their insurance, or his savings account. In this whole story, her name is never provided, and she is not called righteous. Was she only saved from drowning because of her relationship with Noah?

We don't know much about how Noah's family responds to his ark building. Perhaps they help him out. It stands to reason that one man is not capable of creating such a massive vessel alone. The scripture does not say; for all we know, Noah's family thinks he is crazy.

What kinds of craziness are you being called to accomplish? At the very least, we are called to live a very different life from the rest of the world. The good news is, unlike Noah, you are not alone in this task. The bottom line is that no matter how crazy Noah's calling sounds, Noah obeys God.