Lessons Learned Through Noah

Genesis 9: 8-17
1 Peter 3: 18-22

We often consider Noah’s story to be one for children. We decorate our nurseries with little arks and cute animals and rainbows. We have the Sunday school kids put on plays featuring Noah and the animals and we have the preschool kids draw pictures of it. But not too often do we think about what we adults can learn about life and God through Noah’s story. Well, I came across ten life lessons that come straight from reading Noah’s story that I want to share with all of you.

 Lesson # 1 : Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. Noah acted on faith, building the ark long before the rain started. You need to look into the future and plan for it.

This lesson is probably one of the hardest because it requires a delicate balance. God often reminds us not to look too close to the past, but also warns us to not concentrate too heavily on the future which leaves us with the present. This first life lesson requires a lot of faith from us. Jesus reminds us that we have been given a precious gift because God has made it possible through Jesus for all of us to enter into heaven.

And although it is a gift freely given, it still requires a faith response from us. That response of faith is important to how we deal with all that life throws at us. We can more easily deal with the present when we have our eye on the prize of eternal salvation with God. When we remember that it is only through God that we have or receiving anything, it is a lot easier to give up the reigns of control to Him.

 Lesson # 2 : Don’t listen to your critics. Listen instead to your heart, and then do whatever has to be done. The neighbors might have taunted when Noah was blocking their driveway — but he had the last laugh as soon as the rain began falling!

Sometimes our critics will be our family and friends. They won’t always understand what God requires from you to be a faithful Christian. Noah could have let himself be disheartened by all the criticism and laughter, but instead he chose to ignore the naysayers and instead to only listen to God’s voice.

Lesson # 3 : Stay physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally fit. You never know, maybe when you’re 600 years old, someone might come along out of the blue and ask you to do something REALLY big!

While not many people will make it to 600 years old, this is a good point. You’re never too old or too young to learn something new. You may have read the bible a hundred times, but there is always something in there that you will have never noticed before. Perhaps it took a new experience for the scripture to come to life, but that is the beauty of the Bible – as we grow, so does it.

Lesson # 4 : Don’t seek to go it alone. Always travel, at least, in pairs, because two heads are better than one.

There are many times when our pride tells us that we can do this on our own. We don’t need anyone else to tell us what to do. There are times when we are sure of where we should go and what needs to be done. So when someone new comes along and tries to change things, we resist with all we have. Through Noah, God reminds us that he made Adam AND Eve because the only way to live life is through shared experiences with others. We all need companions and friends. It doesn’t have to be a spouse, but we need other people to lean on both in good times and bad.

Lesson # 5 : Speed is not always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails; and they all arrived safely on dry ground at the very same time.

This is probably the second hardest lesson for people in the 21^st century. We live in a world of NOW. We want the fastest cars, the fastest food service, the fastest coffee makers, the fastest computers and cell phones. Waiting for anything has become anathema to most people.

We used to have a saying that some things are worth the wait. Most people no longer believe that. We have furniture that has been made in twelve seconds instead of handcrafted in twelve months and instead of lasting generations, they barely last a few years. We have cheap electronics that break when we sneeze on them. Everything from our washers and dryers to our cars are made to NOT last when it used to be that things were made to last a lifetime.

What do we get by hurrying life up? Let’s see: How many of us have heartburn nightly from the fast food and stress? How many of us have tension headaches and migraines every month? How many of us have high blood pressure and have to take pills to keep from having a stroke?

Lesson # 6 : Handle Conflict with certainty. If you can’t fight or flee from adversity — at least make certain you have an idea that can float in the battlefield of ideas!

Noah wanted to both fight God and flee from this task he had been assigned. There are many tasks both in our lives and in the church we would like to flee or fight. One of mine is picking hymns. If I had my way, I’d pick the same six songs and play them every other week to avoid the looks Ms. Cleo gives me when I introduce a new song with a bad tune. But I know that we have enough musical talent in this church to handle a bad song or two because that isn’t really what is important about our Sunday worship. What is important is that we have worshiped God and hopefully leave uplifted by His presence in our lives.

Lesson # 7 : Don’t miss the boat! Never forget this underlying truth: that ultimately when all is said and done, we’re all in the same boat!

It’s easy to get caught up in life and forget about God. It’s easy to forget about what it means to be a Christian when everything and everyone around us seems to have forgotten too. But at the end of our lives, we are all going to face one surety – death. And after our death we will meet our Maker. How will we look God in the eye and say, “I forgot to get into the boat because I was busy with my business.” or “I didn’t get in because no one else did.” Or “I got wrapped up in taking care of my children and my job and forgot what time we were to board the boat.” These excuses will seem shallow then because they are shallow now.

Lesson # 8 : Don’t rely much on the experts. Remember that amateurs built the ark while professionals built the Titanic and the Challenger Space Shuttle.

You may not have a PHD in rocket science, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have something to offer the world. Everything you have gone through in your life has taught you something. It’s amazing what a little bit of your life experience could teach a young teenager just starting out. So perhaps instead of leaving it to the experts who often get it wrong because they are concentrating on only one viewpoint, maybe it is time for you to step up and offer your valuable knowledge to this church and the other areas of your life.

Lesson # 9 : Fear is nothing more than “False Evidence Appearing Real”. The woodpeckers on the INSIDE are often a bigger threat to your overall well being than the storms raging on the outside.

Jesus never had a lot of patience with fear. He allowed people to have doubts, but every time someone was fearful in the gospels, he rebuked them. Fear paralyzes. Fear stops potential things from become reality. Our self doubts and worries cause us more damage than the things we are actually afraid of happening. Perhaps you fear looking a fool if you try to teach Sunday school. I know I felt that way when I started with Confirmation class, something I had never taught before.

Those children soak up everything I give them. Some days it’s really good stuff. Other days, it’s not. But that class that I was so dreading at the beginning of the year has become one of my favorite things about being a pastor here at Trinity. Perhaps your fear will become your greatest treasure as well.

Lesson # 10 : Remain faithful and optimistic. No matter how bleak things look, if God is traveling with you, there’s always going to be a rainbow of peace on the other side of the storm.

None of these lessons are easy, but they all come with one important guarantee. God is with you. You are not alone. If you mess up, then try again. Because at the end of your life, there is a rainbow waiting for you that offers ultimate peace and happiness for all that you have suffered while trying to live a good, Christian life. However, if you never try, if you never have faith in what sometimes seems impossible and improbable, then all you are left with is regrets. That is no life to live. There’s no afterlife in that either.     

Amen.