Choosing to Trust God in Every Season: Lessons From Noahనమూనా

Do you want to get noticed?

If you want to get noticed in today’s world, the usual advice involves building a platform, going viral, or making some noise. But if you want to get noticed by God? Do what Noah did: walk faithfully.

Genesis 6:9 tells us Noah walked with God. And now we read these words:

“Then God said to Noah…” Genesis 6:13

In the midst of a collapsing culture, God speaks—and He speaks to the one who has responded to His grace with faith. This is a pattern throughout Scripture: God entrusts His purposes to those who walk closely with Him.

God said to Abraham,“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…?” (Genesis 18:17)

To Daniel, “He reveals deep and hidden things… to you, Daniel, this mystery has been revealed.” (Daniel 2:22, 30)

To Samuel, “The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His word.” (1 Samuel 3:21)

And to those who walk with Jesus, He promises, "You are my friends if you do what I command.I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:14-15)

This kind of divine insight is the fruit of walking with God.

Far from being distant and remote, God draws near to those who draw near to Him (James 4:8), revealing His purposes and inviting the faithful into His plan. It is worth noting that before God asked Noah to work for Him, Noah had already chosen to walk with Him. So when God speaks to Noah, who was at least 500 years old and the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, He doesn’t just give him a job—He invites him into His purposes.

READ

Genesis 6:13, 18-19 “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth….But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.”

When God revealed His plan to Noah, it must have sounded incredible! Prepare for a flood that will kill every living thing upon the earth. Build an ark to exact specifications. Prepare to receive the animals I will spare. Rescue only your own family. And trust that a new promise is coming.

At 500 years old, there is no record of other big accomplishments in Noah’s life. Nor does he seek out this remarkable assignment. He didn’t apply for it. God came to him. That’s always the order: God moves toward us in grace, we respond in faith, and then He entrusts us with work. Noah walked with God—then he worked with God.

Obedience didn’t earn him favor; it flowed from it.

REFLECT

What do these passages reveal about the relationship of walking and working with God? About the nature of God's partnership with people? What does it say that God involves Noah in His redemptive plan?Have you ever felt God prompting you to do something specific? How might walking closely with Him prepare you to hear and respond? Are you seeking to work for God without a lifestyle of walking with God?

It was a big job!

God gave Noah a job so massive, it would define the rest of his life: build a lifeboat. The Hebrew word for ark (tevah) is used only one other time in Scripture—for the basket that carried baby Moses down the Nile (Exodus 2:3). It’s not just a structure; it’s a vessel of rescue -and a picture of salvation.

The ark wasn’t a ship in the traditional sense. It was likely a barge—450 feet long, three stories tall, flat-bottomed, with one door. Its 100,000 square feet of space made it large enough to house every kind of land animal God intended to preserve. In giving Noah the instructions, the dimensions were precise, and the materials were specific.

The mission was clear: obey.

We don’t know exactly who helped Noah—perhaps hired laborers or family members. But we do know one very important thing.

“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22

Noah obeyed fully—even when he didn’t understand. Even when the skies were still blue and the size of the job seemed unattainable. He did not know everything that would happen, but he knew one truth.

Obedience was the bridge between the warning and the rescue.

READ:

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

Deuteronomy 5:32–33 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you...

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

REFLECT

What does Noah’s complete obedience say about his trust in God? Why is it important that his obedience followed faith? Why is obedience an important part of walking with God?What task has God put in front of you that feels big, slow, or unseen? In what way have you offered only partial obedience? How does Noah’s example challenge your attitude toward that work?

Faith is not blind trust—it’s informed trust.

As incredible as God’s revelations to Noah were, God left many questions unanswered. Noah could have obsessed over what he didn’t know. We might wonder about the same questions Noah faced? Was God’s plan even possible? Could all the animals fit in one craft? Where would enough water come from to cover the earth? Surely, Noah had to consider these things, which we still debate today. But should we argue that this is nothing but an allegory, know that Scripture treats the account as history—not myth—and Jesus Himself affirmed the flood (Matthew 24:37-39).

Faith does not reject reason— but it does require that REASON BOW TO GOD'S WORD when some answers remain hidden.

The Bible was never intended to be a science textbook or an exhaustive encyclopedia. It’s a storybook revealing God’s character and His redemption purposes. Just as a recipe book is fully sufficient for its intended purpose of baking a cake, yet doesn’t include the science behind it, so the Bible is fully sufficient for its intended purpose to reveal God.

READ

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword... it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Noah trusted God's word as fully sufficient for both faith and obedience.

The absence of full information didn’t hinder his obedience—because he knew the One who called him. Instead, he trusted God with what he did not know, choosing to move forward in what he did know and “in holy fear built an ark” (Hebrews 11:7). What was enough for Noah should be enough for us.

READ

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

REFLECT

How does our posture toward Scripture (faith first vs. proof first) affect our relationship with God? What must you know about God’s character to trust Him when He does not answer all your questions?What areas of your spiritual life are you waiting to act on until you "understand everything"? How might God be asking you to trust Him with the unknowns and obey what you do know?

Working with God Today

God still calls people to build lifeboats in stormy times—not out of wood, but through obedience. In every area of life, God invites those who walk with Him to live in obedience to all that He has revealed: in parenting, discipleship, money, service, prayer, work, generosity, and truth-speaking. He entrusts us with work that flows out of our walk with Him.

READ

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

Matthew 7:24-25 [Jesus said] “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

In God’s gracious love toward us, our obedience is also the bridge to our blessing.