Keep Building

Noah’s call to build the ark was no small assignment. The ark measured 510 feet long, the same as one and a half football fields. The roof was more than 50 feet from the ground; tall enough to house three inner decks. The storage capacity was the same as 450 standard semi-trailers. In all of history, few wooden ships have ever come close to the size of Noah’s Ark. As a result of this massive construction project, many believe it took Noah about 75 years to complete his work!

The construction of the ark was not a quick job. It was a challenge-filled PROCESS!

Noah didn’t walk away from his prayer time with God, and suddenly the ark appeared. As much as God wanted an ark built, he didn’t give Noah a ready-built boat. God didn’t send angels to build the boat for Noah. Noah had to build it himself. It was seventy-five years of BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS.

If you have ever tried to build something -- a successful business, athletic prowess, a long-lasting marriage -- then you know that it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that requires blood, sweat, and tears. The same is true of the call of God. If God is calling you to build something, you have to understand that he’s not going to snap His fingers and make it happen for you. It is going to take BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS.

The process of building the ark did not deter Noah. He heard God’s call and did not deviate from it. But how was Noah able to endure through all of the blood-spilled, sweat-filled, and tearful days?

Check out this message from week 3 of our new series, Noah: Surviving the Storm, as Pastor Eric, in conjunction with his friend Rich Holmes’ study on the subject, reveals five things that we must do to endure like Noah did and see the completion of what God is calling us to build.

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family…” (Hebrews 11:7 NIV)

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE | MESSAGE NOTES | TRANSCRIPT

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My friend Rich Holmes wrote a great book on the subject of Noah, and his content inspired several of my thoughts on this subject. Get Rich's book here.

How to Know What God is Calling You To Do

We are all called to build the kingdom of God. But do you know the specific part that God is calling you to play? Can you describe the call of God on your life in a simple way?

Many believe that God only reveals His call for our lives through a burning bush encounter like Moses or Samuel’s visit to David. And when we don’t experience those encounters, we interpret the absence of the divine phenomena as a lack of interest on God’s part. However, oftentimes, God will speak to us as he did to Noah.

Noah knew what he was called to do because he simply walked in close fellowship with God.

Noah didn’t have a burning bush encounter when the Lord revealed his plan to build an ark. He was just walking with the Lord, step-by-step, day-by-day, while living in the middle of a culture that had lost all God-consciousness -- to the point, every thought of mankind was evil.

Through the life of Noah, God actually teaches us that He is more concerned with our DAILY WALK than our MASSIVE CALL. Because we can’t PERFORM THE CALL if we don’t have THE WALK.

Check out this message from Pastor Eric as he reveals how our walk with God is directly related to hearing the call of God on our lives.

“This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” (Genesis 6:9 NLT)

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE | MESSAGE NOTES

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My friend Rich Holmes wrote a great book on the subject of Noah, and his content inspired several of my thoughts on this subject. Get Rich's book here.

An Unexpected Voice at an Unexpected Time

God has a history of using people no one else wanted. David was the youngest of his brothers, the twelve disciples were mostly outcasts, and Paul was in the middle of persecuting Christians when God picked him to spread the good news. God uses some of the least qualified people to do some of the most miraculous things. Why? Because God likes proving that He is God. When God does the unexpected with the unexpected, He gets all the glory.

In the book of Judges, God’s people continuously turn their backs on Him and fall under enemy oppression. Once they had enough, they would smarten up and cry out to God for help. Then God would raise a judge to deliver the nation once again. And one time, he did it in a way no one could deny the presence and power of God at work. God picked Gideon, the youngest of his family in the lowest tribe of Israel. He was a man no one would have chosen to be a judge, but God had a special plan for him. Gideon was hiding from the enemy when he heard an unexpected voice. It was an angel, giving him an unexpected word from God. The angel said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

God called Gideon to rescue the nation of Israel from their oppressor, but Gideon questioned his call. He questioned his call because he didn’t see himself as a warrior or a “mighty man of God.” Surely there were more qualified people God could choose, but God called him so He could get the glory. Once Gideon accepted his calling, he gathered an army of 32,000 men. But once again, God did the unexpected. God told Gideon that his army was too large. An army of that size could claim victory by their own power, but God wanted all the credit. Through a series of questions and tests, Gideon’s army was whittled down to 300 men.

Gideon trusted God and went into a battle outnumbered by over 100,000. But God’s presence had gone before them and thrown fear into the Midianite camp. When Gideon’s army announced themselves, the camp went into utter chaos. The soldiers turned on each other, and some tried to escape, only to be tracked down and killed. Gideon and his army of 300 defeated the Midianites and released Israel from their oppression, but they didn’t get the credit. God received all the glory because He did it in an unexpected way.

The bottom line is not whether you are qualified; it is whether you will accept your call. Gideon wasn’t expecting his call, and he certainly didn’t expect it to happen the way it did, but he answered the call. Our mission may be different than Gideon’s, but God is calling all of us to something. What He said to Gideon, He says to you, “Go in the strength you have, I am sending you. I will be with you.” You may not expect this calling, but God is calling out to you. The question is, will you answer Him?