“An ark?” she looked at
her husband puzzled by the description he’d just given her. An ark that
measured three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high
seemed an impossible picture to grasp, much less build. “Out of gopher wood?”
Noah looked at his hands,
hearing the disbelief in his wife’s voice. “Yes,” he stated simply.
“And how exactly, where
exactly, with what money are we to build it with?” She asked incredulously,
looking around at their humble hut, its belongings meager indeed.
“I don’t know. I just
know we have to and the Creator will make a way." Noah’s statement held no
room for argument or question.
She knew that tone, and
knew nothing she could say or do would sway him from his current path. Sitting
down, for she found her legs suddenly would not hold her, a hundred thoughts
went through her mind in an instant. They would have to move; somewhere deep in
the forest for there would be no room to build anything here. What would her
family say, her neighbors? How would they survive in the woods without the
protection of the village? There were wild beasts, as well as men, who roamed
the woods with no thought to life. Recent episodes of the wildness also in the
village, of murder and rape, drunkenness and plunder, so widespread she or Noah
remained awake around the clock to keep their home safe. The only moments fear
did not accompany her every breath were those spent at the altar with Noah as
he made sacrifice to the God of the heavens. Everyone else had abandon the
rites at the altar, and forsaken the God taught to them of old, but Noah held
steadfast to the teachings he learned at his grandfather’s knee. She looked up
to find him watching her. Did she trust him? Did she believe him? He would walk
into the woods to build an ark, and leave her here, if he really believed God
commanded him to do so. Could she make the same sacrifice? The faces of her
sons, bright and expectant filled her thoughts. She wanted something better for
them. Something besides the fear they lived in every day. She wanted them to
know the peace she found with Noah at the altar. Standing, hands on her hips
her expression matching the resoluteness in his, she proclaimed, “Well, I guess
we have a lot of work ahead of us then.”
When I think about the
account of Noah I find myself wondering how he and his family, especially his
wife handled the burden God placed upon them. I believe Noah found grace in the
eyes of God because he still sacrificed at the altar as God commanded Adam. If
others were continuing, then their sins would have been covered and they would
have also found grace in God’s eyes. I believe he took his family with him, and
they experienced the anointing of the altar together building a relationship of
trust and respect with God and one another. Her role in supporting him,
encouraging him, praying for him, and simply believing in him would have been
vital to carrying out God’s will. Just as the animals were brought on male and
female, so were Noah and his wife called together. Without doubt I believe God
gave Noah the wife he would need to assist him. I'm sure she looked at their
lives and the seeming impossiblity of the task and wondered, as I often have,
how they would afford it, or how their tiny family could possibly build something
so huge! But she chose to trust in Noah and trust in God. What characteristics
and attitudes can we attribute to her, that possibly we can model to be ready
when God calls us to the impossible?
We can be willing.
Willing to sacrifice anything God asks of us to be in His will.
We can be supportive. We
can be an encouragement to our family and friends, and support them when they
are called to a ministry or task. No matter how big or small it may seem,
encouragement is huge, just a smile or a word of “you’re doing a good job, I’m
praying for you” can make all the difference.
We can be praying for and
with those we are blessed to be in relationships with. Whether spouse, parent,
grandparent, sibling, aunt, or friend we need to find God at the center of our
relationships.
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