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“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”  Genesis 6:8 (ESV)

Gotta love a road trip –  I sure do.  Hitting the highway with my fave “trip food” (stuff I normally don’t eat) and ready for an adventure.  While the beach is always my go to place, on Memorial Day weekend I traveled with friends to visit the Ark Encounter in Kentucky.

The path from Virginia to Kentucky was filled with lots of ups, downs and around the curve.  My ears were popping and my lead foot had to ease up around some of those bends in the road.  It was a fast trip, but totally worth it.

Don’t know if you’re like me or not, but those Sunday School flannelgraph stories were mesmerizing.  The ark and all the animals marching in. The huge raindrops falling and the water raging  And then the next scene was the rainbow decorating the sky – the perfect happy ending.

While Noah’s family survived the catastrophic flood along with the animals God instructed him to bring along, all other mankind, animals, trees, etc. were destroyed.  Why?  The people of Noah’s day rejected God and chose to pursue evil.  Every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was continuously evil, which in turn grieved the heart of God.I’m sure there were lots of laughter and ridicule aimed at Noah, yet he persisted in following God’s instructions. And when the first drops of rain began to fall, the stark consequences of the people’s sin became reality.

Kind of makes the flannelgraph look different now, doesn’t it?  Standing in that massive ark takes a Sunday School lesson from a storybook to a new, real life dimension.  A truth, God’s word,  unfolding right before our eyes. Righteousness = living right with God = protection, shielding and positioning us for God’s best. Wickedness = rejecting God’s commands = vulnerability, consequences and eternal death missing God’s best.

Sweet friends, we would be wise to heed the wisdom of God’s word. Those stories we heard as children – Noah’s ark, Joseph’s journey down the pit, Daniel in the lion’s den – were real people.  Reaping always follows sowing.  Noah, Joseph and Daniel sowed right living and reaped God’s miraculous deliverance. The people of Noah’s day reaped devastating consequences because they sowed unrighteousness. A truth told is one worth heeding.

Life will present us with lots of choices.  Some of those will serve us well; others won’t.  Let’s not grieve the heart of our loving God by pursuing whatever seems right in our eyes. Instead let’s choose to do life according to His commands.  Even if we’re standing alone.  Even if we’re the only ones listening to God’s voice.  Even if we are persecuted, ridiculed, or mocked – following after our God is worth it every step of the way.

“Father, how we love the amazing stories of real people who fill the pages of Your word.  Incredible testimonies of what it means to follow hard after You, to reap grace and mercy in those moments when we miss the mark and to cherish the joy of forgiveness.  We are deeply loved.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life