๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Have you ever been tasked to do something seemingly impossible? How did you respond?
โข When given instructions, do you follow them right away or do you take your time and try to understand them first?
โข Have you been called out for doing something out of the norm? What happened?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต. . . . ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ. ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฒ, ๐ด-๐ต
(Read also ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฒ.)
When God created humans, He made them in His image, blessed them, and commissioned them to ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ, and to ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต (Genesis 1:28). But because of Adam and Eveโs disobedience, sin came into the world and infected every human. Eventually, people chose to rebel against God and walked in their wicked ways. Their acts were so corrupt that Godโs heart broke and He regretted making mankind. God decided to send a flood to wipe out His creation. But there was a man who was set apart, following God even when it wasnโt popular. Today, let us look and learn from the story of Noahโs faith to go and obey anyway and build an ark that led to the salvation of his family and the rest of creation.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ฑ, ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ. ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ด-๐ต
Despite the corruption around him, Noah was faithful to God, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด and ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. When people chose to sin, Noah was determined to follow God. In fact, Noah is described as a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:4โ6). He was not alone because he raised his family in Godโs ways. Even today, God calls us to be set apart and to walk with Him in righteousness, even when it is counter-cultural to do so. Recall a time when you did something out of the norm to follow God. What happened?
๐ฎ. ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐, ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น.
๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.ย ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฎ๐ฎ
Because Noah found favor in Godโs eyes, God warned him that a flood would come and commanded him to build an ark to protect him and his family, along with animals of all kinds. This seemed impossible and irrational. This was the first time an ark would be built, and God didnโt mention exactly when the flood would come. But Noah ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, following the specific dimensions and materials that were to be used. Sometimes we think that Godโs word and His commands may not make sense, yet His word proves true. As His people, we respond with unwavering faith and obedience, even when we donโt fully understand. What is one thing you believe God called you to do that seemed irrational at first, but worked out in the end?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ด๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ.ย ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ด:๐ญ
Years after God spoke to Noah, the ark was complete and the flood finally came. Every living thing was wiped out, except Noah and those in the ark. Though the flood lasted for months, God remembered Noah and caused the waters to subside. Noah, his family, and the animals with them returned to land safely. He built an altar to the Lord, and God established a new covenant with him, providing a signโa rainbowโas a promise not to curse or strike the earth again (Genesis 8:21โ22). Through Noahโs radical faith, God preserved humankind and all kinds of living things on the earth. How has God shown you His faithfulness and led you through challenging situations? How has He shown you that He remembers you?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Do you believe that God has called you to do something that seems irrational? How may you learn to trust and obey God more in this area?
โข How do you respond to people who question your faith or treat you differently because of it? What are some practical ways you can demonstrate Godโs love to them this week?ย
โข How can you encourage people to grow in their faith and obedience to God, and to trust Him in all things?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His faithfulness to those who walk with and believe in Him, just like Noah. Thank Him for remembering and upholding His promises according to His word.
โข Ask God for a deeper level of faith to follow His ways, even when it seems impossible or irrational. Pray that you would learn to trust God more than trends, reports, and opinions.
โข Pray that God would use your life as a testimony to help others in their walk of faith. Pray that Godโs light will shine through you, so others may see His character and faithfulness.