when i feel like Noah...

at Terra Nova this year, i had the opportunity to speak about one of my favorite characters of the Bible...Noah.

when i think of Noah, many times my mind doesn't go to the rainbow, the rain, or the flood. my mind goes to how must he have felt for 120 years as he built a boat. i think my favorite part of the whole story is found in Genesis 6:8-9, where Noah is described

BUT Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a RIGHTEOUS MAN, BLAMELESS among the people of his time, and he WALKED WITH GOD.

Without a whole lot of back story on this, Noah was the ONE person on the earth who hadn't given in to temptation and the evils of the world. THE ONLY ONE! i find myself teetering on the wrong side of that line many times. i find myself wanting to be a light in a dark place but looking around to see if it's truly dark yet. i want to be salt but wonder at times if i have lost my saltiness.

the greatest part about this story is knowing that even when i feel like i am truly the only person with a certain belief or conviction or the only one who doesn't agree with what the supposed Christian leader of the day says, i know that the Holy Spirit is there to prod me along and to remind me of the very presence of God in my LIFE.

One key part to this story is found in verse 22:

Noah did EVERYTHING God commanded him.

which meant building a boat when everyone else played. it meant succumbing to the stares and laughs of the others in his city. can you imagine how he felt pulling into the home depot for yet ANOTHER load of gopher wood? what about his wife? do you think the women at the local starbucks didn't snicker when she walked in?

i think Noah was considered crazy by many, stupid by others, and odd by most. in the end though, it didn't matter what the others thought because God was watching him the whole time. God was watching an ordinary man do something extraordinary. God was watching His man do what he was told to do.

oh God that i would be willing to build a boat in my backyard if you called me to!