Saturday 18 May, 2019

7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

For those of us who grew up going to church, the story of Noah is so very familiar. Trying to read it with fresh eyes, I can see how this narrative may seem hard to believe for some.

But at its heart, Noah’s story is a picture of faith. In Hebrews 11:7 we read,

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.”

The verse in Hebrews 11:6, just prior to this, tells us that “he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him”.

We walk by faith and not by sight. If I try to base my life on what I can see and understand, I will be severely hampered by my own limited abilities to see.

Faith in God has guided my life for as long as I can remember. Of course I do not have all of the answers to life’s big questions (and many of the small ones for that matter), but faith in God has given me a solid foundation, deep meaning and purpose and hope for the future.

The benefits of faith have been immense and far too many to recount here, but I can absolutely testify of the rewards of a life of seeking God, and I am so very grateful.

Written by Shelley Witt