Your Persistence Can Help Others

Imagine you hear a voice telling you to prepare for an event that you have never heard of or witnessed in your lifetime. And at the time of hearing of this coming phenomenon, you are 500+ years old and have already lived a long life. WOW! 

Noah’s story is a true example of how your persistence can help others. 

God was upset with mankind’s wickedness and decided to destroy the entire earth. All of the work he described as “good” in Genesis 1, was now in jeopardy. Being a righteous God, he chose not to punish the innocent with the guilty. As he found Noah blameless, his instructions to Noah were clear:

1. Build a boat with a specific type of wood to a specific measurement. 
2. Bring animals into the boat- 7 pairs of clean and 1 pair of unclean animals and have enough supplies to care for them. 
3. Take your immediate family on the boat with you.

In today’s language, God was saying to Noah; build a boat that is longer than 1.5 football fields and taller than a four story house. He also wanted him to collect animals from the wildest of beast to the peskiest of mosquitoes. Moreover, he would spend months in this boat quarantining with family. Noah’s job clearly was not an easy one but he did it, just as God had instructed. 

Bible scholars estimate that it would’ve taken Noah 75 years to build the ark. When he turned 600 years old, the floodwaters began to rise. The long-awaited event that he had been preparing for began. 

After 40 days and nights of consistent rain, a flood lasted an additional 150 days, and a few more weeks of watching the water recede, God said to Noah in Genesis 8:16-17:

 Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.

Genesis 8:16-17 (NIV)

I’m sure that Noah encountered detractors while he constructed the ark. His back and arms would grow tired many days. He would sit and wonder why is this all necessary. He would feel like giving up.

Imagine what would have happened had Noah not follow the instructions of God. What if he had called the voice he heard ridiculous? Surely, he and his family would have perished in the flood. His wife, children, and daughters-in-law were all saved because he decided to listen and worked tirelessly to follow God’s command.

Persistence calls for us to do what we must regardless of the obstacles and challenges. There is always a reward in pushing beyond the breaking point, where nothing makes sense. Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 9:10 reminds us that when we are weak, He is strong. 

The request made of Noah was great, but his faith in God was greater. The story of Noah’s Ark is far more important than a song sung during Sunday School. It shows us that if we listen to God and are persistent in following his instructions, we can literally save ourselves and the lives of those around us.