Build Your Boat In The Midst Of Your Drought

BUILD YOUR BOAT IN THE MIDST OF THE DROUGHT

Genesis 6:6-8

And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, "I will destroy man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:13-14a

And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood;

Genesis 6:22

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

INTRODUCTION: TALK ON HOW THE LORD LED ME TO THIS TOPIC:

Before we get started, I want to give a brief synopsis of the story of Noah for anyone who may not be familiar with it or who maybe has forgotten some of the important details. Noah was a man who lived long ago. We don’t know exactly when, but it was a time of great wickedness and evil upon the earth. Because of that, God decides to destroy the entire human race, except for a man named Noah and his family. The Lord had Noah build a huge boat, an ark, and then had him gather a pair of every kind of animal and bird and bring them into this ark. Then it started to rain, and it rained and rained for forty days. This great deluge that the Lord had sent resulted in a flood that destroyed every living creature on earth, except for Noah, his family, and all the animals and birds which were in the ark. Then, after six months, the waters finally receded and Noah, his family, and all the animals and birds left the ark and went out to repopulate the earth.

Let me just say that I believe this story is not a fairy tale. This event really happened just as the Bible describes. Some Biblical scholars claim Genesis is describing a local flood in Palestine, but I think it is much more extensive

than that. It is interesting that different religions in various parts of the globe all have stories of a great flood. Some scientists believe a catastrophic flood can best explain certain geological evidence. But the point still remains that began building this boat in the midst of a drought.

God had given Noah specific plans and specs instructing him to the tee of what to do and when to do it. Now imagine if your neighbor began building a boat in the middle of your street, you would probably think he or she were a little nuts. Well the people around Noah didn’t quite understand his logic for building a boat either. Noah was not a man of great wealth, however he did what he had to do to obtain the materials God instructed him to us so that he could build his boat. I imagine since they had been in a drought state for so long someone may have asked "Noah - why you building a boat, no clouds in the sky, no water coming down, we haven’t seen rain in a month of Sunday’s." But because Noah knew what God said and knew he would do just what he said I bet his reply was something like "its gonna rain, it’s gonna rain, better get ready and bear this in mind, God told me to tell ya it’s gonna rain you better bear this in mind, cause God is gonna show us the rainbow sign. And he kept building his boat in the midst of a drought.

Oh I imagine some one else asked Noah - how ya gonna get that big old boat to some water = the nearest body of water is miles away, and you can’t push, pull, or pick up this big boat? But Noah didn’t pay no heed to the words of others, and simply responded It’s gonna rain, Its gonna rain = you better get ready and bear this in mind, God told me to tell ya that its gonna rain and he is gonna show us the rainbow sign. And Noah kept building his boat in the midst of the drought.

The people mocked and laughed at Noah. You can almost hear them. Ha! That old fool where’s the water at" But Noah kept building his boat in the midst of the drought. They laughed and they howled, they ridiculed and they mocked.... But Noah just kept on building his boat in the midst of the drought. Oh but when the first raindrops fell the laughter stopped. As the waters began to rise they ran toward Noah’s Ark but the door was closed. They cried out, "Let us in." But it was too late - and Noah had to tell them "sorry my friend God’s got the key and I just can’t let you in."