Genesis 6; Genesis 7; Genesis 8; Luke 3
A God Size Task!
Scripture
Genesis 6
14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”
Observation
The first thing that grabs my attention in the story of Noah and the ark was that out of all the people on the earth it was only Noah that found favor with God. Noah wasn’t sinless, but he desired to walk close to God. If God were to destroy everything on earth again by a flood, I know that He is not, but if He did would you be the person that God could pick to build the ark? Would you be the person that found favor with God? Would I? I hope that we would.
This was a God size task that God had given Noah. He was to build a boat that was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. If God told me to that today it would be a huge project, but He gave the assignment to Noah who had no electrical tools, no shipyard and no previous training. It took Noah between 75-100 years to complete the task!
So here is the boat in Noah’s front yard and it is finally finished. God then tells Noah that he is to gather up all of these animals and get them into the ark and God tells him to make sure that he has brought onto the boat enough food for all of his family and for all of the animals! Wow! What an assignment!
God does the same thing today! He always gives us tasks that are too big for us to carry out on our own. You may have heard someone say, “I just can’t do this” as they are attempting to do something for God. The truth is God always puts on our hearts things that are too big for us to do by ourselves. God doesn’t intend for us to do them alone. He wants to help us and that is why He always gives us things that are too big for us or totally impossible for us to do alone.
What has God put on your heart to do? Have you put it on the back burner because it is just too big for you to do? The Apostle Paul knew the secret of success when he wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
Moses had to be reminded by God after God told him to rescue the Israelites that he wasn’t going to do it on his own.
1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.
3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.
God gave Moses a task that was way too big for Moses but He never intended for Moses to do it on his own.
We could go through the Bible and find example after example of where God gave people jobs that were just way too big for them to do: David, Elijah, Deborah, Samson, Joshua just to name a few!
So what has God asked you to do in 2012? Remember if God has asked you to do something then it will be something “God Size” and it will not be something that you can do on your own. If you and I can do it on our own then we can get the glory, but if we have to depend upon God then He will be the one that is glorified and He will be the one that gets the credit.
Application
God has put on my heart a God Size task for 2012 and with God’s help I plan to do it! How about you?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, as we think about the year ahead of us I have no idea how we are going to accomplish what You have put on our hearts to do. But I know that, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Help me to walk close to You. Help me to depend on You and depend on Your strength and not depend on my own. Help us to be able to finish the task You have given us. Thank You for the examples that You have placed in Your Word that show us what we can accomplish when we depend on You.
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