Genesis 6:9

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

Do you always consider serving and trusting in God successful?

Consider Noah. He lived at a time in the history of this world when only 8 people total believed in God. That’s it. Noah, his wife, their sons, and their wives were the only ones who still believed in God. Not exactly critical mass. We don’t know how many other people were in the world at that time, suffice to say, probably a lot more than 8!

However, because of the wickedness and unbelief in the world, God was going to bring his judgment on the people of the world in the form of a flood. However, before that happened, he sent this family of 8 to do something important. Preach.

The Bible tells us Noah was a “preacher of righteousness.” He preached with his words and actions the reality of the existence of a holy God, God’s displeasure with the unbelief of the people of this world, God’s promise to destroy the world with a flood, and also God’s grace in providing an ark to rescue and save. God sent Noah and his family to preach that sermon with their words and actions, every day, for 120 years. Yes you read that right, 120 years.

If Noah preached just once a week, that’s 6,240 sermons preached. (For reference, I’ve been a pastor for 17 years and have preached over 900 sermons in that time. I’ve got a ways to go.) I’m sure Noah preached more than that since the very work he was doing, building a large ark in the desert, spoke to his faith in God’s Word and promised salvation.

Either way, that’s a lot of sermons. And after preaching for 120 years, Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives were the only ones saved on the ark. Noah did not have a single convert. Not one.

I can’t imagine that. I have been planting the congregation I was called to start 8 years ago. If I have ZERO converts, or ZERO people join the church, or ZERO results to show for all the efforts I and others have put in, do you know what would happen? The funding for our church would be pulled and I would be questioning my call as a pastor and whether serving God is really worth it. But we have something to learn from Noah.

Do you ever wonder if all the effort you put forth in service to God is worthwhile? Does it count for anything? We live in a world and have a psyche that is all results oriented. If our actions gain favorable or successful results we will continue to do that thing. If the results are less than favorable or even non-existent, at some point we will change direction. If serving God gains us nothing on this earth, is it worth it? We have something to learn from Noah.

God doesn’t call us to anything but to be faithful to him. God calls us to faith and calls us to follow him in obedience. That’s it. God didn’t call Noah faithful because his sermons were successful and gained him attention. He called Noah faithful because he trusted in Christ his Savior and was covered in Christ’s holiness. That’s it.

Serving and following God isn’t something we do because we “get something out of it.” We do it because the God we serve saved us through his Son’s death and resurrection. He has called us out of darkness into the light of faith and salvation. We are part of his kingdom now, a kingdom of grace.

As a result, God calls us faithful. He calls us preachers of righteousness. Our greatest joy in life is not the results of serving God, but simply the fact we get to serve God. Our greatest satisfaction in life isn’t because of a reward God gives us for following him. It’s simply following him, obeying him, and trusting in him. Serving God is it! Trusting in him is the goal! Leave the results and rewards and all of it to God. We will do the thing God calls us to do and find great joy in it. Following him.

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Pastor Jeremy Belter