“By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family” (Hebrews 11:7). The story of Noah in scripture seems to be like a fairy tale, even to some believers.

One of my pet peeves is how the story in most churches, day-care facilities, and nurseries, is interpreted as fanciful.   Just look at the decorations on the wall, and chances are there will be a small ark with some larger elephants and giraffe heads sticking out of the ark, maybe even a zebra. This automatically sets our logical minds on how out of proportion this picture really is.   I have known people that base their whole disbelief in God just on the basis of what they deem some fairy tale; in their minds, therefore, the whole Bible is just as fanciful.   Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water.
An open mind and informed reading of the Genesis story neither permits nor requires the flood to be a universal global flood, and geology does not support a universal flood.   A nonglobal interpretation does not undermine the lessons learned from the Genesis flood account that are pertinent to the life of faith and hope.

What we do know from scripture is that Noah was a , blameless among the people of his time.   So Noah was a beacon of hope to the people of his time because he trusted God. His obedience set him apart. God had even offered a covenant with Noah, that He was going to destroy everything with the floodwaters.   (He was still yet to sin.)   That was only a part of the covenant. God did not tell Noah of His plans to carry on His relationship with humanity that would grow out of Noah’s family, and never again would He destroy His creation.   It would be Noah’s faith and hope that would be a light for all to see.

Does your hope and faith shine in your everyday life?   If not, why not?