Noah (Genesis 6, pt.2)

Noah’s faith in God could have been handed down to him from his parents and his parents’ parents. However, his faith wasn’t synthetic in that he just believed because his parents believed. Noah’s faith was the real deal. How do I know? Because he walked with God and he listened to God. The guy built a boat the size of a football stadium. Did anybody even know what a boat was back then? Noah’s story reminds us of the words of James,

Faith without works is dead.

Imagine if he didn’t build the ark? Imagine if his faith was without works? This guy lived it out. He was real. His relationship with God made him complete and it made a difference in his present life. Reality, in the world and people around Noah was missing Someone. It lacked. It was incomplete; a life lived without God always is. Noah, in his relationship with God, found out who he really was, his purpose we might say. This reality, this absolute truth, was so encompassing to Noah and his life that he didn’t want to walk away. He tasted and saw that the Lord was good.

- How do I live like that?
- How do I walk with God in such a way that I actually hear Him speaking?
- How do I trust God at the level Noah did?
- Is it even possible?

On our own this would be impossible. But when we receive Christ we are adopted into His family. This family (the church universal) is a big help to us. We are also given the Spirit of the Lord, who dwells richly within us. This Spirit acts like a teacher and guide in that He instructs and leads us (we must be willing and submissive of course) in how we should live. When we do something we shouldn’t He tells us about it (sometimes in a gentle way and sometimes in a not so gentle way). He helps us through trials by giving us wisdom and hope. He helps us spiritually discipline ourselves so we can become stronger. He grants us the freedom to choose God’s path. God’s Spirit living within the believer and the believer working with the Spirit is what makes the impossible possible.

The question is not a matter of probability, but a matter of reality. Do you believe you can live a life like Noah? I know he is one of Hall of Faith-famers in Hebrews 11, but reality (God’s Word) teaches that we can be there too! Do you believe that? Noah shows us that it’s about a personal relationship with God. It’s about taking the time to listen and deciding to obey. Noah’s world may be separated from ours by several thousand years, but were the trials he faced really that much different than ours today? Noah lived in the days when God hadn’t poured out His Spirit upon all people, but we do. We can find favor in the eyes of the Lord.