Life is Hard. The Struggle is Real.

​Life is hard. The struggle is real. While all of us experience seasons of blessing, we are broken people living in a broken world. Everyone struggles. It feels like some struggles are harder than others, and sometimes we wonder why we have certain struggles. We know too that everyone's struggles are not the same...but we can all relate to the fact that the struggle is real.

Let me give you an example. God told Noah what to do. Genesis 6:14 NKJV says, "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”  God even gave him the measurements (Genesis 6:15-16 NIV). “This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within eighteen inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks.” Noah did exactly as the LORD had commanded him. The boat is ready! 

God tells Noah to have his family get on the boat. Genesis 7:1 NLT: “Finally, the day came when the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous.”   It is important to remember that Noah did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.

Next God tells Noah to load the animals. Genesis 7:2-3 HSC: “You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky-in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth.”

I can't help myself.  I just wondered once he had gotten everybody on the boat (ark), if he gave them any instructions. Well just for the fun of it,  let me share what I think he might have said, so let us listen in:

May I have your attention; we are going to be floating away in a week, so I felt like I needed to share with you some instructions.

Alligators....stop nibbling on fellow passengers. Flies....quit pestering the horses. Elephants....shovel up your own mess, it blocks the hallways. Pigeons....the lions are not statues. Mosquitoes and bats.... quit biting the other passengers. Myna birds.... Stop repeating everything you hear. Cows....fly swatting is prohibited. Lightning bugs.... Remember the lights are out at 9:00PM. Pigs....clean up your room. Raccoons....stop your midnight raids. Hyenas....stop laughing at the other passengers. Lions....quit stalking everyone. Vultures....stop hovering. Bugs....stay out of the pantry. Snakes....pick up your own skins and throw them away. Ants....bring your own picnic lunch next time. Hoofed animals.... please tiptoe after midnight. Camels....no spitting at the other passengers. Squirrels....quit hiding nuts in the bathtub drains. Night Owls....keep your hooting down; it keeps the Morning Doves awake. Turtles....your dinners are getting cold, start for the dining hall earlier. Finally, to my family.... Be careful what you say around the parrots if you do not want it repeated.

Now let me get serious for a moment. It is important to remember Genesis 6:22 NLT, “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.”  Noah did what God told him to do. WOW! The final thing God does is shut the ark’s door. Genesis 7:16 NRS says, “And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.”  Noah could not close or open the door no matter what. They waited seven days on the boat before anything happened. I am sure they could hear the laughter of the neighbors outside. I wonder if Noah begins to think, am I crazy? It took almost one hundred years to build this thing. I preached every day for one hundred years and no one repented. I must be a failure.

Then on day eight, there was a noise. Noah had never heard this noise before. It began to tap all over the boat, got more, and finally it was coming down. Noah remembered the words of the Lord: “For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." (Genesis 7:4 ESV) The doubt that was going through his mind disappeared. God confirmed to him that he was on the same page with him. 

As the rain came, I am sure Noah heard the cry of the people outside the boat begging for mercy to open the door to the ark.  Once again,  Noah must have dropped his head, wishing he could. Many of those people were his friends, and some were his neighbors. He cared for them; he had dinner with them. I am sure he had been to their home and helped them with something over the years. He saw their faces in his mind and just wished they had listened and repented of their ways. Now there was nothing he could do! If I were in his place, I would have wept. 

After several days of rain, the boat starts moving; the family and the animals are nervous, you can tell. Finally, the ark begins to move, but there is nothing to steer it with. Questions are going through their minds, ”Will we survive this deal?”  Noah reminded them of God’s word in Genesis 6:18 GWT, "But I will make my promise to you. You, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives will go into the ship.”  He told them God never fails! 

Many of the blessings we enjoy today are ours because someone did not quit. From religious freedom and educational opportunities to life-saving medical inventions and vaccines, we were helped enormously by the efforts of those who persisted before us. When suffering or hardship comes and we are tempted to quit, that is just the time to trust in our faithful Creator and press on.

Peter gave words of encouragement to the early church when they were tired and afraid. He said in so many words, "Never quit. Do not slow down. Do not stop. Do not get outraged. Do not let hardship, difficulty, temptation, or testing get you off track. You know you are going to come through if you trust the One who has brought you safe this far."

Do not quit! Come to church!

Make Every Day Count!

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