KEY SCRIPTURE. Hebrews 11:6-7 

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

RELEVANCE

Well, I'm lying on Bed 27, Ward 2b of the Royal Melbourne Hospital's heart precinct. My trusty laptop is on the portable bed table, and I've been watching Shadowlands, the story of C.S. Lewis, while contemplating my message.

In the next bed, Veronica has visited almost every place in Australia and is studying Hebrew and the Bible. She is a lovely and very interesting person. Her predecessor, Hayden, was despatched at 4 p.m. He was trying to make Tullamarine Airport before his flight left for Wynyard, Tasmania, where his family would pick him up and chauffeur him back to their home in Burnie.

I was ambo'd in at 11 pm a couple of nights ago with chest constrictions. They've taken more than 10 blood samples, and I have stickers and wires all over me.

An inbuilt monitor, Troponin, a protein that God supplied to each human and is found in the cells of our heart muscles, is a bit high in mine. So, on Monday, I am booked in for an angiogram to try and identify the problem. At least it gives Heather a break from me.   

Today, I don't want to talk about chest pains but the pains of faith which every honest believer experiences. 

These pains occur when we make decisions for God rather than self-serving ones because we are cutting off more unnecessary parts of our fleshly man. Noah made decisions like we do and experienced those same pains of separation, rejection, and heartache. But, of course, the immense joy God gave him far outweighed the loss attached to his faith-based decisions. 

When Noah was 5 years old, God removed his great-grandfather Enoch from the earth. Whether Noah personally witnessed that phenomenon or not, it is still a 'WOW' for a kid his age to hear about—in fact, for any person. 

As Noah grew, his elders would have rehearsed the Enoch story along with other special notations of his character, worship, and conversations. Can you imagine trying to explain Enoch's disappearance today? The authorities would have a field day with you. 

The stories helped shape Noah into a righteous builder. Long before he constructed the Ark, Noah chose God and built a life of faith. When we choose faith, we choose it over something else, just like he did. 

All of Noah's ancestors had other 'sons and daughters'. Only Noah bore three children, all male. Did God have a hand in that—creating a team of four workers (solid and reliable) to get the Ark built? How long had God been considering the flood? 

Unlike his forerunners, Noah didn't seem to have Shem, Ham, and Japheth until he was around 500 years old, just under halfway through his life. It was then that God asked Noah to build the Ark. His father, Lamech, remained alive for another 95 years, 5 years short of seeing the Ark completed. 

Up until then, Noah had been constructing his life in God, building trust in every situation, and making one decision at a time until there was no room in his faith for either question or doubt. 

Faithful people suffer building pains, the pains of cutting and shaping their lives to fit God's purpose. They become proficient at building their lives with the right material and working through the sufferings of making the right decision in the face of pressure. Noah's forefathers were reared to be god-fearing, selfless adults looking to serve the living God. We're all called to this pathway. 

We can read and talk about faith, but they are mere words until we're introduced to experience. Every hero of faith in Hebrews 11 chose the pathway wherein lies pain. The rest choose an easier route through life.

CS Lewis once said, "The boy chooses safety; the man chooses suffering." This statement briefly explains the challenges for those who select the Way of Holiness. However, our pain and suffering must be due to our stand of faith, not our tears of weakness.

We cannot deny the pain of building Christ into our lives. However, it is the same pain as that of single-minded athletes or students who are overcome with joy as they see the positive changes arising from their decisions. 

Every worthwhile pursuit brings discomfort. Following Christ into the building game of righteousness is worth every ounce of self-denial. Amen?

PRAYER  

Father Lord, thank You for the riches of this family lineage and their faith in You that so clearly lights the way. Praise you for the conversations you so obviously had with each member, from Adam to Noah. All their labours of faith are abbreviated in the Bible, but not in Heaven. Praise you for your Way. 

Photo by Callum Hill