Be Still and Know - "By Faith Noah Built A Large Boat"

(from www.premierchristianradio.com)

1. Hebrews 11.7 NLT
   
   
   
   
   
   
   'It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.'
   
   
   The account of Noah building an ark and saving his family together with vast numbers of birds and animals is
   a wonderful story and I suspect that most of us were told it from our earliest years. It’s a story of enormous courage. The world had never seen a flood like this before so the idea of Noah building a vast boat would have seemed absurd to all those around him. And the idea of packing the boat with smelly wildlife would have appeared an even more incredible challenge. But Noah did these amazing things for one reason - he was a man of faith. In this chapter the writer to the Hebrews is seeking to unpack what it means to live by faith and Noah offers us an inspiring example.
   
   
   Most of us spend much of our lives conforming. We fit in with society and the people around us and just get on with life. I’m not criticising that approach but it raises the question, “How do you respond when God asks you to do something completely different? How would you cope with being asked to take on a challenge which everyone else would consider deeply weird?” Through the centuries God has often asked people to do things which have been viewed as peculiar by their contemporaries. When, at the end of the 18th Century, William Carey heard God calling him to take the Gospel to India he met with a barrage of criticism. One senior Christian leader said, “Young man, sit down; when God is pleased to convert the heathen world, He will do it without your help or mine.” He called Carey “a most miserable enthusiast”. But, although Carey was mortified by the experience, he didn’t give up. He believed that God had called him to take the Gospel to Asia and nothing, and no one, would stand in his path. Carey became the father of modern missions and his influence enabled millions of people to hear the Good News of Jesus.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Question: What would you do if God invited you to do something unlike anything you had ever done before?
   
   
   Prayer: Loving God, I thank you for inviting me to travel with you on this exciting journey of faith. Amen