Drift | Against the Tide: How Do I Know Who To Listen To?

About this series:

Become anchored in purpose and discover how to live with intention in a world that pulls you off course.

The characters in Hebrews 11 stayed the course against all the odds. Against the tide of their cultures, against a tide of personal questions, even doubts, they remained focused on the purpose God had given them. This series will help us all assess whether we are drifting from our God-given purpose and, where we have, will challenge us to realign.

About this talk:

Only one verse is given to Noah in Hebrews 11, but his extraordinary story is told in Genesis 6:5-9:29. The context was a world that was evil, with God being grieved at how corrupt mankind had become. Thus, God decided to judge mankind by removing him from the earth- “I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish” (v 17). 2

Noah was the exception, having “found favour in the eyes of the Lord…a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:8-9). God commands Noah, in a dry wilderness, to build a boat big enough to house himself, his wife, his three sons and their wives, plus “two of all living creatures, male and female.” And such was the way Noah walked faithfully with God that, over 500 years of age (see 5:32), he believed and obeyed- “Noah did all that the Lord commanded him” (7:5).

How long it took Noah to build the ark we do not know (though by comparing 5:32 and 7:6 it could not have been more than 100 years; his sons appear to have been married by the time God spoke to him, see Genesis 6:18). But it was certainly an enormous task, taking considerable time, perseverance and determination to stick to the course God had set him on. And this must have meant going against the tide, against the tide of fatigue; against the tide of public ridicule; against the tide of history; against the tide of a wicked and evil culture- all because he knew God and knew the reality of God’s call to him.

The flood lasted for 150 days, after which the ark came to rest and God promised to never destroy all life again. God renewed the covenant he had made with Adam- “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (9:1) and gave the rainbow as a sign of that covenant.

If we are to obey God we too will have to go against the tide. And be careful in discerning who to listen to. But what might that look like in our day? For non-Christians, the invitation is to hear God’s gracious call and obey because we trust his wisdom and promises, even when it leads us to go against the tide.

Audio only