Life for Noah was not easy. He raised three boys in a cultural moment fraught with evil, violence, and pervasive corruption. Like any good father, he made plans to raise the kids right and provide for a family. In later years, God asked Noah to do the unthinkable, to build a boat in the desert.
God’s calling came without any promise of ease or convenience. Amazon delivery wasn’t a thing. Lumber would need to be milled instead. Supplies were bought or bartered for. Building a boat of such size and purchasing rations to fill it required a small fortune. While many details of Noah’s nine hundred year life remain vague and open to speculation, a few points seem clear.
God’s plan required significant amounts of Noah’s time, attention, and energy
God’s plan meant letting go of financial security and lifelong savings
God’s plan meant sacrifice and new struggles for Noah and his family
Building the boat was not an easy road, nor was it comfortable for Noah and those he cared about most. Did Noah sell the family business to liquidate assets for supplies? Did locals graffiti hand hewn timbers overnight in a display of pervasive public mockery? Did Noah’s children respond with eye rolls, grumbling, and begrudging acceptance?
In the face of great challenge and hardship, why did Noah do what he did? He faced public ridicule and social embarrassment. He sacrificed comfort and financial security. He relinquished any pride or prominence to do something that appeared foolish to nearly everyone watching.
The odds were not in his favor. There was no rain in the forecast. The time was not right and the cost was high. On paper there was zero reason to risk it all and build the boat but Noah did it anyway. Why?
As our family faces yet another move, the 6th in ten years, I find comfort in Noah’s consistent and confident obedience. The timing for our current move is not awesome to be honest. A move means school disruption and drops offs in two locations hours apart. It means selling our new home to renovate an old one. It means saying goodbye to neighborhood friends and a wonderfully low interest rate. It means letting go of all of this to go take a risk, to follow the next step God has laid before us, to loosen my grip on our future security and rely of God’s daily bread instead.
I am excited, yet nervous for the transition ahead. The calling has been clear but the the end result remains cloudy at best.1 I find myself desperately hoping life will get easier, simpler, or more comfortable soon, but what if it doesn’t?
Building the ark was hard. But what about life after the rain? I doubt living through the flood or rebuilding civilization felt like a walk in the park. At any moment the ship could have sprung a leak or capsized in high winds. Food was scarce, mud was everywhere, and farming proved impossible even after the water receded. I wonder if Noah ever questioned why God saved his family from corruption to a fragile existence in such harsh conditions. We are never told that Noah’s life gets easier. But we are told that God’s presence and promises remain with Noah until the end. As the Bible introduces Noah, we are told he “walked with God.”2 What does that mean?
Centuries later the writer to Hebrews compares life walking with God to a long distance race.3 What if life was more than a sprint through hardship to reach calm and comfort as quickly as possible. What if struggle was not just a means to an end but the actual beginning of a relationship with God that relies on his strength instead of our own.
Maybe this is why we read in Isaiah about a God who renews the strength of the weary instead of removing their hardship.4
Maybe the real comfort we can cling to from Daniel’s three friends in the Babylonian fire-pit is not their survival but the presence of a fourth person beside them through the midst of it all.5
The last verse of Isaiah 40 concludes “those who hope in the Lord will walk and not be faint.” I think Noah’s faith walk was so special because of his hope. His unrelenting hope rested in the hands of the Lord.
His hope in the Lord’s promise to preserve his family was greater than his fear of the future
His hope in the Lord’s sufficient provision for tomorrow was stronger than his temptation to hedge against scarcity today
His hope-filled identity as God’s chosen child proved louder and more meaningful than his desire to be well thought of, admired, or like by his peers.
Lord help me to fear hardship a little bit less this week and run the race more like Noah holding fast to your hope and promises.
Amen.
Breakaway Founder Greg Matte talks about three basic principles from Noah’s life: challenge comes before character, character comes before calling, calling comes before clarity
Genesis 6:9
Hebrews 12:1 says, ‘let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”(ESV)
Isaiah 40:31
Daniel chapter 3