My family and I shared a wonderful experience at the Ark in Williamstown, KY. It is built to biblical specifications and it is massive! I loved seeing the wonder and amazement on my boys’ faces as we walked through and attempted to relive Noah’s experience. Imagine how loud, smelly, and challenging life on the ark was. Day after day, week after week, month after month, Noah and his family feeding, watering, and cleaning up after animals. It had to be difficult. 

It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. After looking at it today, I can understand why. Can you imagine a single assignment from God that took you 120 years to complete? 

In today’s culture of microwave meals and fast food dinners, we want everything immediately. I’m afraid we even want our discipleship to happen quickly. We become uncomfortable and impatient when things don’t happen quickly. Contrast our culture with Noah’s 120 years of obedience. God’s business with us is never rushed. Let me offer some recommendations from Noah’s example.

1. God isn’t rushing our spiritual development, so we need to think about our spiritual lives as marathons and not sprints.
2. God cares about us and the process of our growth, so we need to be faithful and obedient wherever he’s placed us. 
3. God used a flood and an ark both to judge and protect, so we need to remember God can use anything as elements in our spiritual development. 
4. God promised not to flood the world again and gave us a rainbow to affirm it, so we need to trust God’s promises and faithfulness as the basis for our Christian living.