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LESSON: The Faith Chapter Standing On Your Own By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7 NIV MORE BACKGROUND READING Noah's Ark is probably one of the most popular stories from the bible. I clearly remember this as a favorite story of mine as a child because I loved the part about the rainbow. As an adult, this story has taken on another meaning for me in which I want to share. Let's say you have a next door neighbor who is constantly hammering and banging all day and all night. Every morning he backs his truck into the drive with a new pile of wood. You can't really tell what he is building, but it is huge. It looks like a weird house or a ship? What would you think about your neighbor? You are probably wondering about the man's mentality. Imagine what the people of Noah's time thought about him and how they treated him. I'm pretty sure there were days Noah shook his head and had some serious doubts. When the ark was finished it was longer than a football field and stood five stories high. Have you ever been to a zoo? As Noah guided all of the animals into the ark, he had to be thinking do I really want to spend an unknown amount of time in the ark with a lion, a bear, an elephant. Despite the thoughts that went through his head, "by faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen in holy fear built an ark to save his family." One of the most difficult things for me as a Christian is sometimes you have to stand alone in your faith. Family and friends may look at you funny or treat you differently when you start talking about the God. Suddenly everything you do is criticized or inspected. This hurts because everyone once to be accepted by others. I am guilty of being a people pleaser. I have spent a lot of my life pleasing others. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8 ). As I have grown in Christ, I have let those fears of not being accepted fade away because it is more important to find favor in God's eyes than man's. No matter what the circumstances, as followers of Christ, we are "not to be ashamed of the Gospel" as stated in Romans 1:16. Like Noah, we must "condemn the world." Not put it down self-righteously, but we must separate our thinking, attitudes and actions from the ways of the world.
The devil wants us to lose our faith or doubt God. We can either succumb to what the world says to do or stand firm in our faith. Even if it means standing alone. Noah did it and his whole family was saved. Even more importantly Jesus Christ died alone so that we could be saved and he promised us that "in my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." YOU. Think about the word "you" when faced by tests of faith because you can become a "heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." All you have to do is stand still and know that God has your back.
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