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."
Noah was foolish enough to trust completely in God. He followed the instructions that God had given, and he followed the specs God gave to obtain the successful result. Will you build your boat in the midst of a drought? Many of us today are going through our own drought. Be it financial, physical or spiritual. Our problem is that often when God gives us instructions and blue prints to follow, we are too busy looking at what Jane and John and Jim and Sue have on their paper and our Yacht that God wants us to build winds up being a small row boat, and when the rains start, our boat is not weather ready. But God wants us to build our boats in the midst of the drought and he wants us to follow his directions and read his provided blue prints. Is your drought financial? Your bills monumental and your bank account dried up. But God has given you instructions and told you a change is coming, the rain is gonna fall, but you got to get ready and build your boat in the midst of the drought. Are you building or are you complaining. But my God has never forsaken the righteous nor allowed their seed to beg for bread, for David says in the 23 Psalm that he is the Good Shepherd and he will provide for all of our needs, we just gotta build our boat in the midst of the drought. Some may have a drought where joy is fleeting, loss of a loved one, loss of a friend, But God has already promised that this pain is only for a little while but JOY is coming in the morning, we just gotta build our boat in the midst of the drought. Holy Trinity, we have to build our boat in the midst of the drought. Now Bethel, God has already told us it’s gonna rain and I want you to build your boat, giving us a new task to do as we began feeding the hungry on Saturday. Now some folk thought we couldn’t do it, feeding the multitude with no money? But God gave us the blue prints and she just started to build our boat in the midst of a drought. Somebody else may have said to one of us that we have to involve this preacher or that church to succeed, but God gave us the vision and the instructions and we must just continue to build our boat in the midst of the drought. The work in the community God has called us to build has come into violition. But now church God has challenged us once again to build! Some folk saying right now - we don’t have enough members - there is no money - our account is dry, but God has already promised us the rain is coming, we gotta build our boat in the midst of the drought. Some may say your pews are empty, why don’t you just close the doors if you haven’t filled the building, but God has already promised that the rain is coming, you better build your boat in the midst of a drought. Some may say that you don’t have this and you don’t have that - but God is going to send down the rain, that changing factor, God is going to send down the rain - but we have to be ready, we gotta build our boat in the midst of the drought.
Bethel we are the Ark builders! Today’s Ark is the Church! God called on us to build the boat in the midst of the drought. Look around - this area is in a drought, dehydrated state, needing a refreshing through the word of God. Are we going to say yes Lord, I will build the boat in the midst of the drought. God is calling on you to build His Church. God wants us to build the Church to be a witness of His goodness and of His righteousness. God wants us to be a witness to a lost and dying world dehydrated without God that there is a better way. God is looking for a people who will walk upright before the world gathering them up to enter the Ark declaring the truth of God. Go out and share the good news that there is a Living God who cares about people and who wants to show them a better way to live. God wants us to witness, to invite people to come on board our boat and to minister to those around us who are hurting. God wants us to be a witness. God is calling us to build the boat in the midst of the drought. So as the clouds gather, and the ground is yet dry.....through our struggles and heartaches, God said the rain is going to come, but we have to build our boat, get it weather ready, build our boat in the midst of the drought
