“Then Jehovah said, ‘My Spirit shall not be disgraced forever in man, wholly evil as he is. I will give him 120 years to mend his ways’.” Genesis 6:3 (TLB)
It is so easy to get discouraged in ministry. Whether it’s a church, or some other type of ministry, we must be careful not to get despondent and give up. It’s like always walking uphill, or always walking against traffic on a highway. The world, and a lot of the congregation, is all walking one way. Very few turn around and truly try to follow Jesus.
But, have you ever held a revival for 120 years and not had a single person come down the isle? Have you ever preached in direct obedience to a word from God, and had absolutely no one even fill out a visitor’s card? For 120 years, Noah spoke to every friend and neighbor he had, warning them of the coming judgment, only to be mocked and laughed at.
Have you ever hoped beyond hope that God had made a mistake? That you could change His mind? That He really wouldn’t kill every living thing on the earth? If you tell someone you just talked with God, and they are not born of the Spirit of God, they will look at you like the men in white coats need to take you away. Maybe you missed your medication! For 120 years, Noah begged, pleaded, and cried out to the world that a judgment was coming. 120 years! But the Bible records no converts, save the animals that God sent to the Ark.
I am sure Noah was thought of as severely mentally disturbed, or as they probably would have said back then, Crazy! His own wife and sons probably were beginning to wonder themselves about a man building a boat in the desert, hundreds of miles from any navigable waters. But Noah did not need to understand, Noah only needed to do what the Father had told him to do. When the Master speaks, He is not asking for our opinion on anything. For ours is not to question, BUT TO OBEY!
Copyright 2007 Timothy E. Davis