Noah did everything that God commanded him.
—Genesis 6:22

Now there’s a statement that makes me shake my head in amazement. God had asked Noah to embark on a massive project, requiring enormous engineering expertise in an area he probably knew nothing about (boat building), plagued by logistical nightmares (two of every kind of animal plus food for them all, just as an example), in preparation for an alleged global cataclysm of such Biblical proportions so as to defy all credibility. And all this in the midst of a culture that had discarded God as an obsolete, irrelevant artifact of their ancestors.

Yet Noah obeyed God.

I’m not a big fan of stepping out into the unknown merely on God’s say-so. I subscribe firmly to the tree-climbing rule: don’t let go with one hand until you have a good grip with the other. But God asks me to trust Him, to obey Him, even when it doesn’t make sense, when I don’t know why, when the world around me says it’s a stupid idea. Because God knows. He knows my past better than I do, He knows my future, He knows how my actions will impact the world around me, the ones I love. In Noah’s case his faith and obedience saved his life and the lives of his family.

Much much later the Bible had this to say about Noah:

It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.
—Hebrews 11:7

So in the end the world will be proved wrong and God will be proved right. Not a popular sentiment in our culture. But if I am to live by faith then I must side with God because He is righteous, He is good, He is powerful, He is just, patient and kind. And one day that faith will save my life.

Bible Reading:
Genesis 5:1–6:22
Psalm 2:7-12
Proverbs 1:10-19
Matthew 3:1-17