Encouraging Words-The Ark's Architect

From The Active Word

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household... (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV)

It's something most of us can't even remember hearing for the first time. It's an account buried so deep down in our minds that we've literally grown up with it. It's a story that even non-Christians are well acquainted with. It's the remarkable record of Noah and the ark.

Whenever we come to something as familiar as this, we run the risk of being a bit immune to it. We already know how the story goes and so we kind of close ourselves off to any fresh insights about it. But if we're willing to look closely, we find something interesting that plays into our study on faith.

Notice that Noah's faith was at the back of his immortal exploits. He was a man who simply heard the warning of God, accepted it as true, and then set out to do something about it. There was an activity that accompanied Noah's faith, and the same can be said of any genuine trust in the Lord.

Faith is not a spectator sport. It doesn't isolate or remove itself from responsibility. Just the opposite is true. Faith is actually the fuel that leads a person to pick up the hammer, to gather the materials, and to summon the physical strength needed to build the ark. Apart from genuine faith, God's warning goes unheeded, the ark never gets built, and the human race perishes. But with faith came the activity that God wanted and humanity needed. Faith was the ark's architect.

God isn't going to tell us to build an ark. But He will warn us about certain situations that will arise in our lives. The big question is whether we have the faith to heed his warning and then act accordingly. It's a question we need to ask ourselves, and it's a question that our actions will ultimately answer for us.