Genesis 7

Noah built a massive boat on dry land, told people a flood was coming, and got on the boat when God said get on the boat. There’s no record of debate, no extended negotiation and no moment where Noah said: let me think about this.

He just did what God said.

Have you ever considered what that kind of obedience costs? It’s much more than just the building process, which took decades, or the social ridicule, which must have been constant. Rather, the actual moment of getting on the boat. Closing the door. Trusting that the thing you’d been told would happen was actually going to happen.

The rain didn’t start immediately. They were on the boat for seven days before the flood came. Seven days of sitting in a boat on dry ground listening to everyone mocking them from the outside.

And then the rain came.

Obedience that looks foolish before it looks faithful is still obedience. The seven days before the rain are part of the story too.