In order for Noah to have an ark to go into for safety, he had to obey God and build it. God didn’t make the ark and tell him, “Here you go! Your safe space is ready for you!” Instead, Noah had to pick up his tools and work hard at building a huge boat for which he was ridiculed. Think about it. You’re doing what God tells you to do and everyone else is making fun of you. Hmm. Sounds somewhat familiar at times, doesn’t it?

When Noah finished building the ark (after about a hundred years), God told him it was time to go into it. It’s a good thing that Noah was tuned in to God’s instructions. We need to have that same mindset…just do what God says to do and the reason may/may not be told to us later, but it will be a good one.

Why was Noah called into the ark? Because God saw him as righteous before Him. The world was a wicked place, kind of like our world today. The only way we can be righteous before God is to accept His Son as our Lord and Savior. When we have done that and become the Christians that He desires us to be, adopted into His family, then we are invited into the ark. The ark is not a physical boat of safety. Rather, it is the place we can always turn to in order to be safe from the world’s temptation and sin. We are invited to go in, but we have to take the steps to get there. God will not shove us into a place of safety; rather, He woos us with love and patience, reassuring us constantly that He knows what is best for us.

There is a lot we can learn from Noah…obedience, listening for God to speak and doing what God says when He says it. We have a shelter provided from all of the storms of life. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be storms, just that we won’t suffer all of the consequences that we would without an ark to take refuge in.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God