Lessons from Noah

A New Start – Day 2

I just traveled for three days in a comfortable minivan with six other people.  Imagine what it was like for Noah traveling for nearly a year with seven other people and thousands of animals.  There is much to learn from the account of Noah –

Righteousness – Noah was found to be righteous before God.

Not giving in to peer-pressure – All the rest of the inhabitants of the earth had become corrupt and violent.  Noah stayed righteous.

Obedience to God, even when it seems crazy! – God told Noah to build an ark on dry land for flooding that the earth had never known.  Noah obeyed.

Patience – It would have taken Noah many years to build the ark.  He did not give up, but persevered and finished it according to the plans God gave him.  Then he waited for the animals to come on board.  Then he was cooped up in the ark for nearly a year during the flood.  In all these things he never gave up.

God is a person, experiencing emotions. – Many think that God must have been angry and vindictive to flood the earth.  The truth is found in Genesis 6:6 (NLT) –“So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth.  It broke His heart.”  It was in sorrow that God allowed the flood waters to cover the earth and wipe out the evil in it.  With a broken heart, He started over with Noah.

Do you need a new start?  Is there evil in your life that needs to be flushed out?  Follow the example of Noah and act on the radical compassion of God that would seek to make you new.  Let God wash away any evil that is causing you and Him sorrow.