Sharing with you an excerpt from a devotional series I’m in the middle of writing entitled, “The Miraculous Moves of God.” This one is about NOAH.
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So, what can we learn about the miraculous moves of God through the life of Noah? Well first, the Bible tells us that Noah was a righteous man among all people. So the first thing we can learn about the miraculous moves of God is that righteousness is a positioning for great moves of God. It is easy to presume that if Noah lived righteous he must have lived a holy life, a life set apart to God. Noah’s righteousness evidently aided him on how to be strong in the Lord and in his faith. We have to acknowledge, Noah did not have the Holy Spirit like we do today. Noah simply treasured the righteous goodness in God and followed after it. His righteousness no doubt caused him to see the distinction between righteousness and wickedness very clearly whereas others could not. God’s righteous move was no doubt upon Noah because he was a man who could say YES to God.
The second thing to note about the miraculous move of God in this story is that Noah had GREAT FAITH. Consider, it takes great faith to live righteous among a wicked generation. It takes great faith to live righteously for several years in particular among those you love, live and work with who may trivialize, mock ridicule and judge your caliber of faith because they don’t understand your relationship with God. Let’s explore this a little deeper.
It is clear that Noah had great faith, a faith God chose to use. Noah had the kind of faith that could move mountains and according to Matt. 17:20, this could be interpreted literally! You see, after the rains stopped, there was not a mountain in sight. Noah’s faith caused him to believe a “word from the Lord” that when God moved, he actually cause all the mountains in Noah’s region to be removed from his sight! Another point to consider is Noah’s faith caused him to build an ark for 120 years, that is THREE generations! Who does that? Except someone with great faith. I wonder, is there a promise from God that you would believe for 40 YEARS?
Third, if Noah lived a holy and righteous life and filled with great faith, he must have had INTIMACY with God, causing him to know God and God to know him. Noah had to hear from God in order to know he should build the ark. So Noah must have had a relationship with God where he talked to him and God talked back. Noah’s deep, intimate relationship with God must have been one where God could easily communicate his heart and love for Noah. A love that would cause you to do CRAZY things. This great love, born out of intimacy with God, rescued Noah and his family from coming destruction. So God’s great moves are contingent on intimately knowing him and God knowing you.
The fourth thing we learn about the miraculous moves of God through the life of Noah is, the TIMING of God. When we consider that it took Noah 120 years to build the ark and likely withstand ridicule and mockery throughout that time, you have to consider what was Noah’s motivation? Let’s analyze this a bit more practically.
So how did Noah actually build the ark? Did he build constantly and continually? Did it take 120 years because he was starting and stopping due to wavering faith? Did Noah receive affirmations from the Lord periodically that caused him to persevere and endure through his walk of faith. Or, possibly, was God gracious to Noah realizing he was only one man with a few sons and they had to build this ark all on their own so it just took that long. If that is the case, then we can see another layer of God’s miraculous move of how graciously God added years to Noah’s life that would extend to the life of his faith. God’s appointed time may have been essentially waiting on Noah! So consider, is God’s great move in your life directly tied to WHAT and HOW you are building?
Can you see now, the story of Noah is so much more than a man building an Ark. The story of Noah beautifully illustrates the value in knowing what moves the heart of God and how to understand the nature of his movement. May Noah’s story bring resolve to matters of faith in your own life of where you are waiting on God or trying to hear his voice as you walk out his promise. May Noah’s story encourage you in understanding the kind of righteousness and faith that pleases God and also earns his miraculous move. May the story of Noah bring your understanding and expectations of God’s miraculous move into a new normal, expectations that will empower you to now also walk in.
Weekly Devotion (Daily Reading and Journal Notes)
Day 1: Genesis Chapters 6-7
Day 2: Genesis Chapters 8-9
Day 3: Philippians Chapter 3
Day 4: 1 Peter Chapter 1
Day 5: Hebrews Chapter 11
Day 6: Journal a reflection summarizing all the scripture reading.
Karen Gaithers-Life Discipleship 