Some of my favorite moments are when kids tell Bible stories.
Today, I learned that Noah’s family had to cut down a lot of trees and that alligators are an in-between case, but probably made it onto the ark. And then there was a rainbow to show that God would not do that again, and Noah’s family had lots and lots of kids…
But seriously, if you take a moment to listen, you can learn a lot based on what they observe. For instance, we as readers tend to jump to the “floating” part, and we often take for granted the many days of preparation that preceded the rain. Those hard years of labor required as much faith, if not more, than 40 days on the boat.
Ultimately, the story is about God’s promise and provision, not what we as human beings accomplish. But I wonder if as adults we get tired of our labor and hurry away to ease and relaxation — floating away from our troubles on a metaphorical boat — not realizing that God is with us during our labor. God was with Noah through those years of hard work, and he will be with us as well.