A Preposterous Warning

By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family.  Hebrews 11:7

How many warnings does scripture give a believer about the fallout of sin?  So many!  ‘If you do this, then this will be the outcome.’  Yet, despite their familiarity to me, I have chosen to sin anyway.  It wasn’t that I didn’t believe God, it was just that I lacked godly fear and respect. 

Imagine how steep the curve of faith was for Noah about God’s warning of a coming flood.  All he knew was an evil world.  All he knew was that the evil he witnessed seemed to go unchecked.  All he knew was a world without rain.  All he knew was that God’s judgement was under a restraint.  To hear that a judgement would come on the whole earth had to be a stretch in and of itself.  Then to hear that it would come in the form of water and a flood ~ that was an even bigger stretch.  What motivated Noah to believe such a tall tale?  Godly fear. 

“Where is God in a world of suffering?” is a question posed to Christians all the time.  We struggle to answer and know that, for many, it is a rabbit trail to keep them from considering their need for a Savior.  But it is also the cry of those under the burden of a fallen world; those who wonder how they will make it one more day.  The delay of God’s intervention can erode godly fear of His power and kingship.

God’s inactivity didn’t erase the urgency of Noah’s labor so it is no wonder that he is in this lineup of faith!

How does this impact me?  First, I take my sin seriously because it does have, and will have, the outcomes about which God warns.  Secondly, I am not lulled into complacency about the promise of Jesus’ return and the need to tell the lost about their end.  Their future is their coming flood and I should never take for granted that I am already inside my Ark of safety, Jesus.  He longs for people to know, to believe, and to be saved.  My heart should beat like his. 

Just as it started raining one day in Noah’s time, the trumpet will sound and You will appear in the clouds.  Increase my godly fear that results in urgent obedience.  Amen