Lately my son, Gideon, has been obsessed with the story of Noah’s ark. Hearing this story a million times, I have never really soaked in any more of a meaning than the obvious points of the story. God hates wickedness, He loves righteousness, and He cares greatly for animals. These messages are not small and have always made my heart soar to know that God and I share a love for animals. But recently, reading it in my son’s Beginner’s Bible, and hearing it told through the Minno videos on repeat, God has revealed a new facet of the story of Noah’s ark. I am absolutely sure there are a multitude of lessons in that one story. But today I want to share the nugget God has given me to ponder.

Noah’s ark took YEARS to build. Like a lot of years. Biblical scholars believe it took 55-75 YEARS to build. Can you even imagine something taking that long?? I cannot. The sheer determination to stick with something that long is an incredible testimony and another amazing facet to consider. But the recent revelation for me is Noah’s obedience to begin when he did. God is never in a hurry. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want us to move.

Personally I struggle with time management. I’m sure I’m not alone in always thinking I can get things done faster than I really can. What if Noah had done this? What would have happened if Noah had waited to obey God? Would we have our sweet pupper laying next to us right now? More significantly, would WE even be here right now? Building a giant ark to house pairs + a few extra of every single animal in creation is no small feat (or boat). Certainly not something that could be whipped out in a year or two if Noah had heard the call and decided to wait to get started. What would the ark have looked like if he had waited? I don’t know about you but I know what my work looks like when I procrastinate and have to rush to get something done— it is not pretty and certainly not as glorifying to God. The Lord knew how long it would take Noah to build it and so He called him to start when He did. Moving when you hear God call eliminates the need to rush.

I cannot tell you how many times I have delayed obeying God because of fear. Fear of what people will think, fear of what it would look like, fear of where it would go, fear of it not immediately (or ever) being as great as I would consider worthy to our Great Big Mighty Wonderful God, fear of so many things. But I am positive that Noah’s ark did not look like the finished ark when he started. It didn’t even look close on year two or three or four or five or you get the point. But he STARTED. He obeyed God and started it when he heard the call to get started. It took him 55-75 years!!!! I just can’t get over this. Noah could have and very likely did at times feel overwhelmed by this calling and possibly questioned if he heard God correctly. Especially when his own family was doubting him. But even if he had gotten it wrong, he would have a big huge boat in his yard, not a drop of rain on the ground and people would be laughing at him; but I feel certain that God would have been so overjoyed with Noah’s heart for Him and his obedience to Him. This has been such an encouragement to me lately. That even if I get it wrong, at least I am moving and pleasing the Lord with my obedience to do what I think He is calling me to— not just sitting, questioning and delaying. I heard a pastor once say that it is much easier to steer a moving ship than it is an unmoving ship.

What all this has meant for me on a small scale is that I shouldn’t wait to get moving. If I know I need to be somewhere at 1:00, I shouldn’t start gathering my things to leave at 12:30. Typically, I start to wrangle kids and dogs a few minutes before I HAVE to leave, and that leaves me ALWAYS in a rush. And God doesn’t rush. And I don’t believe He wants us to either. If Noah had started building 35 years after hearing God, he would have been about to 20-40 years too late.

What it means for me on a large scale is that I shouldn’t hesitate to obey Him. For example, starting this blog. I have been wrestling with whether or not I should do this for about two years now. Trying to make certain that it was God speaking, and not just my own idea. And to be truthful, I’m still not sure. But I would rather obey and start moving and be totally wrong, than ignore and delay and not do whatever it is God has called me to do.

Friend, if there is something you feel God has spoken to you, don’t delay. Obey. Even if you’re scared, even if it’s overwhelming, even if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, even if you can’t imagine the finished ark when you start, just start. I know this is something I will be mulling over and working on for a while, and I pray this new revelation of Noah’s ark will be as encouraging to someone reading this as it was to me. 

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