Minimalist Bible: Noah's Ark - Build the Boat

Written by Chad -

God has given me the idea to pursue a personal design project of creating minimalist posters to share the awesome stories of the Bible. If you missed out on previous posters, don't worry, I have created a landing page where you can easily catch up. Check it out here.

The next poster series comes from a story that we have all heard from our childhood—Noah's Ark. I'm excited today to reveal Build the Boat, part two of a seven part series.

Build the Boat comes from Genesis 6:9-16 (NLT) which says, "This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

“Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 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."

This is ridiculous. God gave Noah the most MASSIVE project that anyone has ever received. It would be like your boss coming in and saying, "Frank, I've noticed all the great things you've been doing around the office lately. You have incredible potential! In fact, no other person on the entire planet is as productive as you are, so I am going to fire them ALL. In the meantime, I need YOU to single-handedly rebrand the company, put together a new marketing strategy and do all the necessary leg work to build this business from the ground up so that we can survive the coming fiscal years. Later on, your wife and family will help with networking, expanding and training others. I really need you on this project, Frank… If you don't accept, we are all doomed to failure. Oh, and one last thing: If you do take this project, you will get a TON of flack from your co-workers and most of upper management. They will make fun of you and think all of your ideas are dumb, but I need you to move forward with building this into a global business anyway. I trust you."

Ever feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders?

We will never experience the scenario I just illustrated, but I'm sure you can quickly pinpoint a situation in your life that made you say, "WHAT?!?!" We often face daunting tasks, complex projects, frustrating work and challenging people. These things can suck us dry of our willpower and energy—physically and emotionally. We must remember that God knows our potential. In our walk of faith, we must understand—and expect—that MASSIVE projects will be given to us by God. They might be as small as going up to your friend and talking about your faith or as big as moving to another place to aid in ending human trafficking.

Whatever the size, God is with you. Read that again and memorize it because it's true. If God has called you to it, He will be with you. God loves us so much that He sent His son to save us from the evils of the world. We are called to glorify God and to do His work on this planet. God wants us to help Him continue the work He started with Noah. So, let's pick up our tools and get to work!