Meaningful Mondays: Walking with God, Lessons from Noah

Today I would like to preface this Meaningful Mondays post by explaining that each of these blog entries is based upon scriptures that I have come across in my study that have pricked my heart.  They speak to my own personal shortcomings (which are quite bountiful).  In no way do I mean to offend anyone or give the appearance that I think I know more than anyone else. These are just my own personal reflections.  =)

Image from ChristArt.com

Now on to Noah.  ;)  Recently, I was introduced to a year long study designed to help you Dig Deeper into the Word of God, developed by Cindy Colley.  Each month has a particular focus to help you really get into the meat of the Word and develop a better understanding of the Bible and God. 

This month's study is the book of Genesis.  As I was reading about Noah this weekend one particular verse caught my attention, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God." Genesis 6: 9.

Noah didn't drag his feet behind God, grumbling and complaining about the stuff he had to do or try to race ahead of God by attempting to do the things that God "can't" get done fast enough.  Noah walked with God.  When God made a change in the plans, Noah was right there with Him, doing exactly what He was told to do.  

Wow!  How often do I fight God?  Many times I dig my heals into the dirt and tug and pull on God, trying to get Him to go the way that I want to go instead of walking with Him.

Here are a few things I learned from Noah about how to walk with God:

1. Noah was righteous and blameless (one version says, "had integrity") even when the rest of the world was "wicked", "violent", "corrupt" with "thoughts that were continually on evil" (Genesis 6:5 & 11).  Does that description sound anything like today?  Our world is filled with evil and corruption, but Noah proves that we can't use that as an excuse to dance with the devil.  We have the Bible for direction, a God who listens and provides what we need, the Holy Spirit to help guide us and the support of other Christians to help us on our Christian journey.  God has given us the tools and support we need to live a blameless and righteous life.
2. Noah had faith and did what God said even though it probably sounded crazy/impossible/too difficult/insert excuse here.  God gave Noah the instructions to build a boat that was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall.  He was told to gather up food and animals and get ready for a long stay adrift. 
   I'm pretty sure that I would have been churning out every excuse in the book to avoid that seemingly impossible task, but not Noah.  Genesis 6:22 says, "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded, so he did."  That took a great deal of faith and commitment to God on Noah's part.  Not only did he complete the task, but he did it the way God told him too.  (There's a whole new blog post there.)
3. Noah patiently waited on God.  I have a hard time waiting for God when He doesn't always move as quickly as I'd like.  Taking things into my own hands and trying to speed things along or force things to happen rarely ends well to say the least. 
   Noah was trapped in this boat for months and when it finally looked like the waters were going to recede, Noah opened the window and let out a dove.  It came back because there was nowhere to land.  He waited 7 days, sent out another one and the same thing happened.  He waited 7 more days and then sent out another that did not come back letting him know that the land was dry. 
   I don't know about you, but I would have been sending that dove out 5 times a day, hoping for a different outcome.  I would have been doing everything I could to get out of that boat!  Noah did not push things because he was a man who knew how to wait on God.  He was rewarded with a land that was sufficiently dry and ready for his family to prosper.
4. Noah worshiped God.   The first thing Noah did when He got off of the boat was to offer a sacrifice to God.  When God smelled the "soothing aroma" he decided that he would never destroy mankind like he did with the flood.  (Genesis 8:20,21).  Noah realized the importance of worship and his worship impacted God.
5. Noah was rewarded abundantly because he walked with God.  What did Noah receive by simply having faith and doing what God said?  He received salvation from the flood (Gen 8:1).  God provided Noah everything he needed for the task he was given- a plan for surviving the flood and food and animals to replenish the earth after the flood.  Noah received God's promise that He would never destroy the earth by water again.  God blessed Noah immensely by allowing his descendants to fill the earth (Genesis 9:19).

Are you walking with God or playing a game of tug of war with Him or are you running the other direction?  I definitely challenge you to study Noah and learn how he walked with God against all odds and was blessed immeasurably because of it.  


If you'd like to learn more about the study you can visit Cindy's blog here.  There is also a facebook group dedicated to the study.  Feel free to contact me if you'd like to know more.