Month: January 2018

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There is Noah Way

I’m not much of a builder. I didn’t get those genes from my father. Actually, I must not have gotten his fishing, hunting, oil-changing and handy-man genes either. Sigh.

Here’s the deal: My wife does those things. She’s good at them, and, for the most part, enjoys them.

She’s the builder, painter, landscaper, and fixer.

I cook stuff. Don’t judge (unless I’m on one of those cooking shows, then you can judge for yourself and declare me the WINNER).

So, when I read about Noah in the Biblical book of Genesis, I get a little bothered. OK, more than bothered…I get downright bugged by the guy. He not only constructed a very large boat, but he also took the helm of said boat and navigated open waters. Don’t even get me started about my boating fiascos, um, I mean, adventures.

The guy built an ARK, for crying out loud. This wasn’t a kayak or canoe. It was huge. About one and a half football fields huge!

But, catch this: he also built an ALTAR (see Genesis 8:20). The first thing he did after the waters subsided, and he was able to walk on dry land, was to build an altar.

One was his work unto the Lord and the other was his worship unto the Lord. He did both really well.

Friends, each of us have work AND worship…and they should be done well, and unto the Lord.

What is your ark?

Where is your altar?

Let’s do them both well, and do them as unto the Lord. That’s the Noah Way!

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Fear AND Amazement

“In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this?”

It’s not like they weren’t used to being in boats.

And it wasn’t uncommon for a storm to kick up while they were in those boats.

So what’s the big deal?

 

Luke 8:22-25 captures a story in which Jesus invited his disciples to get into a boat and go over to the other side of the lake. Ultimately we read of them arriving in the land of the Gerasenes, where we read about Jesus restoring a demon-possessed man (8:26-39). Most likely the boat trip started in Capernaum and would have navigated out into the center of the Sea of Galilee.

I have personally been in a fishing boat in the middle of that very body of water, and have (jokingly) fell asleep on the boat as a reference to this passage of Scripture when Jesus fell asleep.

In my case, a slight wind (and some waves) picked up causing our touring team to wonder if we were going to experience something similar to that of the New Testament disciples. Thankfully it ended up being fairly mild…unlike what we read about in Luke 8. They were in a “squall.” They were “being swamped.” They were in “great danger.”

That may account for the fear and amazement the disciples felt. I know it would do the trick for me. I get seasick pretty easily. But that’s not the case here. Sure, the disciples did wake up Jesus with the wide-eyed declaration:  “Master, we’re going to drown!”  But these guys were sailors and fishermen that were undoubtedly familiar with boats and storms. So why were they “in fear and amazement?”

It didn’t have to do with what the storm was doing to them, but instead, what Jesus did to the storm. He rebuked it and it subsided. He commanded the winds and water, and those winds and waters obeyed him. Um, wow.

Storms can surely evoke an emotional response, but nothing will quite bring out the kind of fear and amazement that the disciples experienced like a storm stopping on a dime because someone told it to!

Talk about fear AND amazement.

There are times in our lives when we experience both fear and amazement at the exact same moment. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what we can’t control. Fear of failure and disappointment. AND also amazement at God’s hand of blessing. Amazement at his grace and wisdom. Amazement in the midst of the sheer sovereignty and majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Fear AND amazement. Ah, the beautiful tension.

What if fear AND amazement were meant to be experienced together? Like a tandem bicycle, both peddle toward the same destination: the glory of God.