A Lesson from Evan Almighty

“The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” - Genesis 6: 6-8

Today's Reading: Genesis ch 7-9; Matthew ch 3

One of the many things that I find to be extremely empowering when I read the bible is the enormous value that God has for each of us.

We are only six chapters into the bible here and God has already had enough.

Rough game

But he found in Noah a ray of hope for the rest of us. It wasn’t that Noah was perfect, or that he had some kind of super power or understanding. It was that Noah “walked with God” – Genesis 6:9. And if Noah could make the decision to walk with God when all of the other folk around him refused to do so, it meant that there was hope for all of the rest of us coming after him; a hope that we would have the ability to do the same.

What does walk with God mean? Well from what I can tell it means living a life of faith. Noah’s story is the first amazing faith story for me. Look at what God asked him to do…

Build an ark big enough for you, your family, oh and two of every living creature on the earth…

Umm… ok.

But “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22

Would you?

I’m gonna keep it real… I’m not so sure I would have.

Who knows… Maybe I would have. But I have a hard time jumping out of bed in the morning to pray like I should, not to mention spending God knows how much time building some huge wooden contraption that may or may not seem to be sea worthy.

Imagine what Noah’s homies were saying when he was building it.

Man… you’re crazy.

I imagine they were clownin him something fierce. Remember that movie Evan Almighty with Steve Carell? I think they did a pretty good job of showing the absurdity of this notion.

It’s great that we don’t have to do something as wild as build an ark, but I believe that each and every one of us has a God given purpose to fulfill in our lives. Some people have been given the purpose to be actors, athletes, musicians, teachers, doctors, parents, friends, mentors… How faithfully do we do these things?

I’m glad that life isn’t about being perfect. Life is about doing the best that we can each and every day to become our best selves.

Noah didn’t build the ark in one day. We will not achieve our dreams in one day. But with a purpose, consistent work, and persistent faith I believe that God will provide the miracles that we need to make our dreams come true.

After all, Noah must have gotten some help to get all of those animals on that ridiculous boat…