Lauri and I just spent a week camping in Pigeon Forge. Since we both felt like the one day trip down was a rather lengthy journey towing a camper almost 500 miles, we decided on the way home to overnight in Lexington at the Kentucky Horse Park to break the trip up — and then the next morning we visited the Ark Encounter on our way home.
I don’t know if you have seen the Ark Encounter, but it is certainly worth the visit. Of course, I’d seen pictures of it, but when you are standing beside it — you cannot help but be amazed at the sheer mass of Noah’s zoo-filled cruise ship.
As we wandered through the three decks, looking at exhibits and reading descriptives of how Noah and his family might have cared for a handful of thousands of animals on that floating behemoth for an entire year, I found myself pondering the depth of faith Noah had in God… and the kind of faith Noah’s family must have had in him. What a massive endeavor! Robust beams 3 feet thick… three large decks high… the Ark was about half the size of the Titanic!
I love how Keith Green describes Noah’s faith in “He’ll Take Care Of The Rest”. “You just think about Noah, shoulderin’ his umbrella, when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. All his neighbors would laugh at his pet giraffe, and they would oh-ho, snicker as he passed by. But the Lord said, “Hey Noah, be cool, just keep building that boat. It’s just a matter of time till they see who’s gonna float. You just keep doing your best, and pray that it’s blessed. Hey Noah, I’ll take care of the rest, I’m the weather man!” Ah… gotta love Keith Green… and I think he succinctly expressed how Noah must have felt at times. I mean, come on… building a giant boat to prepare for a massive flood wasn’t something you could hide from the neighbors. He had to be mocked. I get mocked for driving a RAM truck… or cheering for the Steelers — can you imagine the taunting HE received — it had to be merciless. And he had to endure the mockery —and hold fast to his faith — for the 50-75 YEARS it took to build that thing!
As we exited the back side of the Ark and entered the grounds to explore the gardens and the zoo, I experienced a significant culture shock. My thoughts had run so deeply on the faith of Noah and his family and the miracles that God had worked, as well as the rather primitive aspects of the time that he lived, and then, suddenly, I was in the midst of modern, commercialized America.
There right in front of me was EMZRA’S BUFFET serving up all kinds of delicious food… off to the side was a snack shop… there was an ice cream stand… a carousel… zoo and a… seriously… yep, a zip line. I tried to picture Noah (in his robe) on that zip line, but alas, my imagination failed me — thankfully.
I was so startled by the display before me that I stopped dead and turned to Lauri and said, “Do you think God looks down on this and thinks, ‘Cool, they are retelling the Bible stories of faith and My goodness.’ Or… does He say, ‘What in the world are those people doing down there?” And my wife displayed her wisdom when she replied, “I don’t know, but maybe it’s both.” You know… I think she’s right.
So, I chose to ignore the commercialized distractions and focus on faith in a God who had never… once… failed. You know, there have been times in my life where I have had to trust God and lean into His word when things seemed just a bit out of my control too… maybe not as much as Noah… but nevertheless still a daunting endeavor at times. Sometimes when deep faith is required in life we just need to “be cool”… just keep doing our best… and pray that it’s blest…and trust God that He’ll take care of the rest. I mean, come on… if He took care of Noah and his flotilla of zoology — I think He can handle my life.
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