Follow Instructions!

Seeing the flood waters rise this week in our state and keeping a close eye on the situation with my parents in my hometown of Marks has many of us on the edge.

In seeing many of the pictures and video on WLBT, I can't help but think about Noah and what he experienced. It was termed the Great Flood for a reason. Genesis 7:21 says, "Every living thing that moved on the earth perished--birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind."

The ark was a huge vessel--300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. The word "cubit" comes from the a Hebrew word meaning "forearm," because the Hebrews used their forearm in determining the length of a cubit. It was generally the distance from the elbow to the middle finger. That means the ark was approximately 450 long (one and a half football fields!), 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. The ark would've had a total area of 100,000 square feet--that's slightly more than 20 standard basketball courts. Some estimate the ark would've been able to hold 520 modern day railroad boxcars.

When God told Noah how to build the ark in Genesis 6:15, He knew how large the ark needed to be in order to house all of the land-living animals because He created it all! There was no room for fudging. Noah could've skimped a bit on the calculations and thought, "It doesn't REALLY matter if I don't follow God's instructions to the 't', does it? I'm sure I can still fit the family and the animals in it. After all, if I build it too big, it will be too heavy to float. Or, maybe it WON'T float. So, I'll just do it my way and no one will know the difference."

Obedience non-negotiable in God's eyes. Luke 6:46 says, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?"

But Noah didn't second guess God. Instead of relying on his own experience and knowledge, Genesis 6:22 says, "So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him."

Imagine how the story would've ended if Noah would not have obeyed God in the specifics of building the ark?

What instruction is God giving you today? He knows what's ahead for you and He knows exactly what you need to float on the high seas and not be consumed by the stormy waters.