Lives By Faith, Not By Sight

Lives By Faith, Not By Sight

A HERO’S TALE

Like a fast-spreading plague, sin had completely infested the earth. Mankind’s wickedness and rebellion grieved God. So God told Noah, the only righteous man alive, that he was going to cleanse the earth with a worldwide flood. Then God commanded Noah to build an ark so he and his family would be saved.

Noah probably wondered, Flood? Ark? What are those? After all, the story of Noah is the first time the Bible ever mentions a rainstorm. Noah certainly had never seen a flood or an ark before.

What’s more, God was asking Noah to perform an enormous construction task, never before done. The ark was longer than a football field and about four stories tall! Noah and his three sons had to build it by themselves, without power tools or machines.

As Noah worked, people passing by must have given him strange looks and maybe even taunted him: “There’s that crazy Noah. What on earth is he building?”

Despite all this, “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). Noah was living by faith, not by sight.

DECODING THE MESSAGE

Human sight is an amazing thing. Our eyes are information collectors. When they see something, they send that information to our brains through the optic nerve. Then our brains process the information, make decisions, and send our bodies into action by telling our nerves and muscles how to respond.

Without sight, it’s hard to believe or do things. But God often asks us to believe and obey without seeing. It’s called faith (see Hebrews 11:1), and we can’t please God without it (see Hebrews 11:6).

When God told Noah about the ark and the flood, Noah couldn’t see what God was planning. He had no idea what a flood was or how to build an ark. He just had to believe and obey. This made Noah a hero of faith!

What is God calling you to do by faith and not by sight? Whatever it is, trust God. If he can miraculously save Noah from a worldwide flood, he is worthy of your faith too!

BATTLE PLAN

Read Hebrews 11, which is often called the “Hall of Faith.” It’s all about biblical heroes, including Noah, who lived by faith and not by sight.