So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. (Genesis 6:12-14, NKJV)
In my last blog post, I shared a few excerpts from a book I’ve had for years and enjoy the laughter it provides. The book is called, Children’s Letters to God, compiled by Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall. Aside from the humor, these letters hold some interesting lessons if God were to answer some of the questions posed.
One child asked, “In Sunday School, they told us what you. Who does it when you’re on vacation?” The answer: “…the one who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever (Psalm 121:3b; 8)” So, if God doesn’t need sleep, He doesn’t get tired. Therefore, He has no need to take a vacation. Aren’t you glad! I remember the movie, Bruce Almighty, where God decides to take a vacation and leaves the main character, Bruce, in charge. He was overwhelmed by the responsibility and realized the only one who can do God’s job is God, Himself. He’s omnipresent, so He can be everywhere at once; He’s omniscient, so He knows everything, and He’s omnipotent, so He is all-powerful. That’s why we can trust Him with our everything. God is there to help us in our times of need, and He has the power to do something about it.
Little Eddie wrote, “God: the bad people laghed (the child’s spelling) at Noah – you make an ark on dry land you fool. But he was smart he stuck with you. That’s what I would do.” How often do we ignore God’s warnings and admonishments from His Word? The Bible tells us in St. John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NLT).” In this day and age, we are told that being a Christian makes you weak, that it is outdated, and that there are many paths to God. That whole “many paths to God” thing is the one that gets me. It doesn’t make sense to me, logically. Why would God allow His Son to be tortured and nailed to a cross as one of the “many” options to be with Him? It’s like someone has imagined God saying, “I allowed my Son to be crucified so that you can have eternal life; but if that choice doesn’t work for you, I’ve other methods that you might feel better about. So, go ahead and choose something that’s a better fit for you. I just want you to be comfortable.” What nonsense! Jesus, Himself, said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father, but by Me (John 14:6, NKJV).” I’m with Eddie. I will stick with God’s word instead of doing my own thing.
When I reflect on how long Noah waited for God to fulfill His word regarding the flood, I wonder how long I would have stuck it out. It wasn’t like God gave Noah his instructions and in a couple of months, everything was ready to go. No! It was well over a hundred years later. If we’re honest, most of us would have lost faith and given up. But God remained faithful to what He had spoken. Would that we will be as faithful and trust our God. Nehemiah 23:19 clearly tells us that, God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent. Hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (NKJV) There was a popular saying among Believers several years that stated, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” That’s where I stand. How about you?
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