Building an Ark

While at Super Summer this week on the Campus of Mary Hardin Baylor University I heard a message from Heb 11:7. “By faith Noah being divinely warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became the heir of righteousness which is according to faith.” There were several things the speaker said that had a profound impact on me. I sat in the back of the auditorium for a long time and then lay prostrate on the floor asking God what ark He has called me to believe and then asking how to build it.
One of the points that made the deepest impression on me was that every time people saw the ark they saw the reality of Noah’s faith. What can people see around me that is tangible evidence of my faith? What can see around you that exists because of your faith.
I am still wrestling with the implications of those thoughts. I know what my ark is. My ark is the First Baptist Church of Paradise. My ark is four little boys back in Paradise, TX with my same last name. My ark is a house that we believe God for. My ark is a broader and more extensive writing and preaching ministry. My ark is seeing the First Baptist Church of Humboldt, Saskatchewan grow and get a permanent pastor. I found myself prostrate before the Lord asking how I was to build those arks.
Arks are built with enduring faith. It took Noah well over a century to build the ark. At one point would you and I have been tempted to give on the whole thing? A year. Twenty years. Fifty. One hundred years. Noah labored day in and day out. Most of us can get motivated for a day or two. Most of us can be inspired to tackle huge projects for the Lord but very few have the gutsy grit of enduring faith to stay the course day after day, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade. We get bored and lose interest. We find the labor grueling and our resolve turns to powder. We cast longing glances on the other side of the fence where the grass looks so much greener. We find progress slow and the task too difficult and we starting looking for the path of least resistance. Parents do this with their children. Pastors do this with their churches. Presidents do this with their organizations. Peers do this in their witness at school.
Noah fires me up. I want to be an ark builder. I want my life to count for something. His life counted for the salvation of his family. His one hundred and twenty years were given in response to the call of God. What is God calling you to? What is He calling you to do for His glory? What impossible thing, that might take you the rest of your life to build, is He calling you to? If you refuse to endure in your faith in building your ark, what implications will that have on those closest to you?
I found myself asking the Lord what the first steps of obedience are in order for me to build the arks He has called me to build? There has to be steps of obedience. What are they? For me that includes getting God’s vision for the ark. How can I build something I do not have the plans for? God knows what He wants built and He alone can give us His vision to pursue. Do we really want a vision larger than our lives? Do we have the courage to sit before the Lord and ask Him to paint His dream for our lives no matter how small and insignificant or how large and utterly impossible? Not only that but if God reveals His vision for each us about what ark He wants us to build do we have the kind of enduring faith it takes to build arks? That’s what He wants. He doesn’t want us to merely dream dreams for Him. He wants us to pursue those dreams and stay the course until our arks are built and the whole world can see the evidence of our faith and we can point people to the Savior.
God’s ark for me is knee buckling. Nobody will ever see my faith unless I take a step of obedience. I am going to have to take steps in the direction of God’s dream for my life. Even as I write this I am crying out to God in my spirit to show me what those initial steps are. It is downright intimidating to stand before God’s vision and think that I have been called to that vision. It is a humbling thought to wrap my mind around that God has chosen me for a grand vision that will take a life time to fulfill. But what glory will He get when people the reality and evidence of my enduring faith if I will stay the course. It brings great joy to my heart to even think about those possibilities. What a glorious thought to get to join God in His purposes.
I don’t care how outrageous the size of the ark God has called you to build seems. I urge you to pursue it with fearless and enduring faith. I challenge you to be consumed with God’s call on your life to build an ark. May your life long labors prove to be invaluable in providing salvation to your family and friends and as always may the Lord get all the glory.