Promise:
Obedience in the small things builds a life of righteousness and a readiness for the big things.
Passage:
The familiarity of the story of Noah might mask its strangeness. Read the passage below forgetting what you know about the story and imagine what it took for Noah to be faithful to God in a faithless land while he builds a large boat on dry land.
Genesis 6:9-22
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Verse 22 is remarkable considering all that came before it. God says that he is going to destroy the earth, but save Noah and his family. Noah is then asked to build something monstrous following exacting standards. I can only imagine his neighbors complaining to the HOA about the noise and nuisance of a large ship being built on dry land (perhaps the first anyone had seen as there was no mention of boats or of sea navigation in the Bible before this story).
Many wish that God would give specific instructions of this type to us who are trying to follow Jesus. Oh, the clarity of a blueprint, when we are seeking His will! However, I can’t help but believe that there was a lifetime of smaller requests and ongoing dialogue between God and the man the narrative describes as a “righteous and blameless.” A building of mutual trust and communion that resulted in an ambitious request with this level of precision. This was not the first request requiring Noah’s obedience, nor would it be the last.
In my life the opportunities for outlandish obedience only follow obedience in small things as my faith grows. If we want to be a part of God’s big plans, we need to be obedient in the small ones.
Practice:
Find a quiet, comfortable place to be alone. Pray that God gives you a specific word. Ask for a small task (nothing like an ark to build). Perhaps the Holy Spirit will bring someone to mind who you should call, send to text, or write a note. Perhaps you will think of a service that you could provide to bless others. Perhaps as a fellow job seeker needs a word of encouragement. Perhaps a former colleague needs forgiveness. Ask God for the same specificity that you read in the passage above. If He tells you the “why” that is a bonus (we don’t always get that), but you can be satisfied with the how and what. Pause with a pen in hand and ask God to reveal for you a task about which you can do as Noah did.
If you are not hearing clearly, pray that any barriers to your hearing. Sometimes a sin or preoccupation will keep us from hearing God’s voice clearly. Ask for those to be removed. Perhaps that is the word he has for you today. If you don’t hear something immediately, step away and come back to it. Spend time reading Proverbs and reacquaint yourself with what God sees as wisdom, which might inspire and give a response to your prayer. If after multiple attempts over several days you still hear nothing, ask for the prayers of a believing friend.
Pause:
What task did God give you to do? How did you fulfill it? What did you feel when you heard the word? How did obedience feel? Were there any results you saw or heard (and it is okay if you didn’t as sometimes God’s will for you plants a seed in others that needs time to germinate)?
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