Can you imagine being the only person who believed something? Literally the only person? And imagine holding fast to your faith when absolutely everyone else was doing the opposite. Most people today can’t avoid letting the people around them influence what they wear, much less anything more serious.
Noah lived in what may have been the most corrupt period in human history. By the time Noah was born, the earth was so filled with evil that God decided He would flood the earth and start over.
God would save a remnant—Noah and his family—to repopulate the earth. Noah was far from perfect and even made some horrifically bad decisions; however, His story is ultimately a story of faith. It’s the portrait of a man who believed God, despite the fact that literally everyone else thought he was crazy. God said of Noah, “I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation” (Gen. 7:1). So yeah, Noah was, more or less, that one guy who believed when everyone else didn’t.
Noah was so convinced of His faith in God that he did exactly what God said and built this massive boat which literally made him look like he had lost his mind. Again, Noah was far from perfect, but He had a real faith that led to real action and like all real faith, Noah’s led to blessing.
But Noah’s story ultimately isn’t about him, it is about the God who was true to His Word and the God who celebrates the faith of those who trust Him. And While the story of the flood is a difficult story for us to stomach, it ultimately shows us that God is committed to justice. The flood reminds us that God is not blind to all the sin in our world that harms people and keeps us from seeing God’s goodness and glory. This difficult story reminds us that our God refuses to sit on the sidelines while sin wrecks us and the people around us.
In other words, Noah reminds us why it’s important to consider the characters of the Bible. None of them are all that great on their own, but people like Noah trusted the God who is. Noah reminds us that we don’t have to be great, but we can trust the God who is and as we do so, He promises to empower us to live a life of purpose for Him, even if literally everyone else is doing the opposite.
Drew Dixon is team leader for Lifeway Students’ ongoing Bible studies and editor of Characters, a new 7-volume series that highlights the characters of the Bible and helps students understand how their stories point to God’s ultimate glory. These stories have meaning, they matter, and they show us who God is and how much He loves us. Learn more about Characters and download a sample here.
