On Building an Ark

There are many lessons to be learned from the life of Noah, but I never thought of “how to build an ark” as one of them. But I’ve recently being paying more attention to how building a boat applies to me.  

In 2 Peter we read about the incredible circumstances, in their day, that both Noah (Genesis 6 & 7) and Lot (further on in Genesis 19) found themselves in, and, condensed, it says, “if God…saved Noah...and delivered righteous Lot...then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations.” 

The reminder is encouraging that God has the ability to be (and promises to be) my deliverer in whatever I’m facing, but how do the accounts of a flood destroying the earth and a man being saved from a wicked city have anything to do with the temptations and trials in my own life?  I went back to Genesis 6 and started listing out a few things that stood out to me.

~ In the face of a society that was so wicked and evil that God would destroy it with a flood, Noah chose to walk with God (6:9) and remain obedient to him. “According to all God commanded him so he did.” (6:22)

~ God’s instructions for building the ark were not meant to pick and choose from…Noah couldn’t skip a step and expect his boat to float

~ God provided the ark’s master plan, but Noah had to build it

~ Although God eventually wiped out the entire world to save Noah, Noah still had to live with integrity and obedience to God amidst the evil for as many years as it took to build the ark

~ God “shut them in” to the ark (7:16) and protected Noah and his family before the flood could harm them

~ After going through 40 days and nights of rain, they still drifted for over 3 months before grounding again

After looking at Noah's account I wondered what kind of boat I was building in my own life. What could I learn from Noah? Without a doubt God delivered Noah and his family from the flood, yet He required faith on their part to believe what He said, to trust that He knew what He was leading them into and what He was asking of them, and to act on His instructions. Noah’s faith was one of practice, not just belief. Our faith, like Noah’s, must be active in order to grow.  In Noah’s case, his faith was stretched by building a boat.  God would require Noah to build the ark that would protect them. 

What kind of boat are we building to prepare for the coming storms in our own lives (and we know they’ll come - God’s word assures us that “every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:2)? I am “building an ark” each day when I choose to use the blueprints God has given me (His word) and believe in His promises for me and act on them.  As the waves come, I, like Noah, may not see God doing much delivering (in the way that I expected), but I am building an ark when I continue to walk with God, being obedient to all that He is asking of me and believing His promises to be true despite what my circumstances are telling me.  When the storm is at its worst around us we may not sense God “shutting us in” to safety like Noah and his family, but this is the faith that gives us victory (1 John 5:4) – trusting and waiting until the water subsides (will we wait, as Noah did, not knowing for how long?) and we stand on solid ground again. 

Am I a woman who will choose to walk with God in the midst of a million things that could distract me from Him and His purposes for me?  Daily temptations?  My many shortfalls?  A heart that’s “every intent (apart from Christ’s blood that covers it!) is evil continually” (Genesis 6:5)? At any time Noah could have chosen to give up on the ark.  I, too, can choose at any time to stop pressing on.  I can stop taking the time to get to know God and His word. Noah's faithfulness and attention to all the details God laid out for him resulted in his safely being shut in while a storm raged on around him and his family.

We’ve been given the tools.  Let’s build an ark. 

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God." 

(2 Corinthians 10:4)