where's the boat?

Where’s the boat?

Saturday (June 22, 2013) we huddled up and man o’ man did we have fun or what? Well I had a blast! The conversation this week was centered on:

showing up
following up and
lovin em up

We took a peek at some cool daddy’s within scripture and the one we landed on was Noah. Immediately for most when we hear the name of Noah, our thoughts go to man “what a boat”, hahaha, and yes what a boat. Yet when we look at Noah in Genesis Chapter 6, we see a man that as God described was blameless. A man of integrity, a man that was complete, and sound. He fathered 3 boys and in the midst of a world that was full of narcissism how were Noah and his family able to weather the “storm” of life before the actual storm? Let’s take a look together.

In Noah’s time people were still living to be a kazillion years old, by the time he was around 600 God found favor with Noah and spoke these words.

Gen 6:9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.

Pretty cool company the ol’ boy was keeping uh? So Noah showed up with his life, regardless of what the “world” around him was about, he was about hanging out and showing up with God. Noah then followed up when God then gave intricate details on how to construct the boat that God would have Noah usher in pairs of every living animal at the time along with his wife (Noah’s) 3 sons and their brides. You see God had had enough and was going to cleanse the land with a flood. We see that Noah didexactly what God had commanded.

Gen 6:22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Gen 7:5 Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Are you kidding me? What the heck? It does make me wonder why would I not follow through on some of the areas in my life God is wooing me to go or be? Oh he’s not asking me to build a boat, a boat like Noah. A boat that took him 120 years to complete and no telling how much ridicule…no he is asking me to love HIM and love others. He is saying beLIeVE out with your life how you see ME. Isn’t that what Noah did? He beLIeVED God and his promises therefore; he followed through with the instructions no questions asked. WOW…and then Noah loved em up

By now the boat had been loaded, the waters came, the waters receded, the land is dry and the door of the boat swings open. Life is starting over. Noah and his family step off the boat in charge of not only repopulating the world, but also in charge of teaching generations who God is and how to beLIeVE through their creator. Oh the stories the grandkids, the great grandkids, the great great great grandkids, the great great great great great hahaha grandkids would have heard. I mean really Noah lived another 350 years after the ‘storm’.

Oh you want to know how? ok that’s cool here are a few reminders for us:

Romans 8:15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

2Pe 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence.

1 Corinthians 1:7

Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ

Man there is that word everything again. Noah did everything and now through Jesus Christ and our acceptance of HIM, God has given us everything to navigate through ‘storms’ in our life. We may not understand and know exactly how to utilize everything God has equipped us with, so don’t hesitate to share and ask someone to jump in the boat with ya when the ‘storms’ rock your boat. The folks around you just may have been through a similar storm in their life and can help show you the shoreline.

love em up!