Imagine what life on the ark must have been like for Noah. He probably didn’t get much sleep. He was feeding, cleaning, and caring for thousands of animals around the clock. It was smelly and messy. And that’s a pretty accurate picture of what obedience to God sometimes looks like. It’s hard work, and it gets harder. Sometimes, God’s blessings can complicate our lives, but they also bring joy and fulfilment that we can’t get from any other source. No matter what vision God has given us, it will take longer and be harder than we ever imagined. So, we need to persevere. Noah had to build a massive ark from nothing (maybe even being ridiculed by others while he was doing it), then look after all the animals, then wait for the flood waters to disappear. The Bible doesn’t tell us how long it took Noah to build the ark, but we do know how long they all had to stay in it. Genesis 7:11 tells us that they entered the ark on the seventeenth day of the second month. Then Genesis 7:13-16 tells us that everyone left the ark the following year on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, when the flood waters had completely dried. That means they were living on the ark for just over a year. If we had to face those conditions for that amount of time, most of us would want to give up. But Noah persevered, and God blessed him (see Genesis 9:1). When we say yes to God, we then need to trust Him to give us the strength, resources and perseverance to finish the task. But in the end, all the hard work is worthwhile when we receive God’s blessing. Is there a task that you’ve given up on? Ask God for renewed strength, energy and perseverance to complete it.
