"You Want Me to Build What?"

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

It was midnight on a night during finals week and I was finally leaving the campus library, with my entire next day meticulously planned out and several alarms already set on my phone for the morning. I had been ecstatic to be going to bed early (as compared to other nights of my college career) and made a beeline for my frosted car. My carefully structured routine guaranteed me a smooth finals week; nowhere in that routine did I have a two hour conversation in the library parking lot planned. A friend had intercepted me halfway to my car and we walked through the snow together. She confessed to me that finals week had been making it difficult for her to cope with her clinical depression, and did I have some time to sit in the car and talk? With a final exam the next day and precious potential hours for sleep ticking away, I honestly didn't have time, but God threw my structure and routine out the window and made time.

Photo credit to Eric Rothermel

This wouldn't be the first time that God has interrupted a steady, ordinary life for His own purposes. Genesis 6-9 tells the widely known story of Noah, a simple man leading a simple life. Noah was a hard-working farmer and a faithful husband and father, and those two roles alone encompassed his entire existence. Noah learned very quickly that God is not afraid to pull us from the current of our daily lives and re-direct us to a project that we could never imagine ourselves completing. In Genesis 6:15, God instructs Noah on how large to build the ark:

“This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.”

These measurements translate to 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Given the primitive technology that existed in the era of Noah, this was a formidable if not impossible task, especially for one individual. Doubtless, Noah was daunted in the face of these instructions and wondered why God has chosen such a simple person for such a complex undertaking.

As evidenced by countless other Biblical figures, God has the tendency to choose the most unlikely people to carry out His plans. In addition to being an ordinary individual, Noah was also a broken man, who stripped naked and became intoxicated when he got off the ark (Gen. 9:21). God does not select the most pristine and flawless of candidates to carry out His work; God uses drunks, liars, thieves, prostitutes, and yes, even caffeine-driven, burnt-out college students.

Just as God's strength is limitless, through Him, our potential is limitless, and we should lean on Him in complete surrender as He leads us from one strenuous project to the next. One remarkable fact about the story of Noah is that throughout the entire four chapters, Noah doesn't have a single line. Not one word. The entire focus is on God and the plans that He is shaping. Repeatedly, the Bible states: “Noah did all that the Lord commanded him” (Gen. 6:22, 7:5). No hesitation. No questions. Just faithful obedience.

Photo credit to Jeff Sheldon

Like Noah, we should strive to give up our control and let God work through us when we are presented with a challenging project. Noah could have ridiculed the idea of tackling a project so next to impossible, scratching his head and scoffing: “You want me to build what?”

Looking back on that chilly night during finals week, I recall feeling similar sentiments. As we sat in my car and I cranked up the heat, I found myself asking: “Why me? Why now?” I know now that the answer is this: Because God commanded me. To quote Joseph Campbell: “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to accept the life that is planned for us.”

We often pray for God to protect us from interruptions such as this, yearning to cruise through life on a steady course, but it is God who creates these interruptions. God interrupted a farmer to build a boat of gargantuan proportions, and in doing so, preserved the world He loves. I found out later that the conversation I had been so reluctant to have actually saved someone's life. These interruptions may be inconvenient, scary, and maybe even a little ridiculous, but nothing God does is without purpose. Genesis 8:1 assures us that God does not overlook our efforts:

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the water receded.”

The water receded. Noah and the animals were safe. I woke up with a strange amount of energy and performed well on my final exam. My friend won another hard-fought battle against her depression. Just as God remembered Noah, He remembers us. God might present us with a project that seems beyond our capability, but with that comes the unwavering promise that He will show up. 

[Abby Hocking is a senior at Calvin College, where she studies psychology and writing. She is employed at Pine Rest Christian Mental Services and plans to become a therapist. Abby is a proud literature nerd, running addict, and puppy enthusiast. She thanks God daily for her wonderful family, her loving friends, and for Twenty One Pilots.]