A mile wide and an inch deep

Matthew 24:37-39 says, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

As it was in the days of Noah. That verse has been engraved on my heart for weeks now. I don't know why God does what He does, but I know if He lays something on my heart day after day I should probably put some time and thought into it.

The verses from the gospel of Matthew are warning us that when Christ returns, God will judge us as harshly as He did in the days of Noah. In the days of Noah, the world was filled with violence and chaos. People were worshipping idols and had turned their hearts away from God. Genesis says the people in Noah's day were so vile that God regretted creating man.

Violence, chaos, idol worship, vile conduct. Does any of that sound familiar? Noah tried to warn the people about what would happen if they didn't change their ways and turn back to God, but no one listened. No one took the warning seriously. And God decided Noah was the only Godly, righteous man left on earth.

No one knows the time or day when Jesus will return, but are we heeding the warning? No one knows... that's the point. It could be 100 years from now or it could be tomorrow.

I think God laid these verses on my heart as kindling to ignite the fire that was quickly fading. I have struggled the past few months. Maybe it was depression, maybe it was just laziness, but I felt numb. Not just physically numb, but spiritually numb as well. I was exhausted day after day and I had to peel myself off the couch every night just to go to bed.

And the shame I put myself through was relentless! "You work for a Christian organization. You are in the Word every day, why can't you practice what you preach? You know God - why does He feel so far away? Why can't you just trust Him with this?" I had convinced myself I was a terrible Christian and I deserved this life of sadness.

But then God challenged me. Honestly, I was just excited that I heard His voice! That still small voice just wouldn't let these verses disappear from my mind. As it was in the days of Noah... They played over and over again like a broken record in my head.

So what did I learn?

That little kindling fire started when I heard someone use the phrase "a mile wide and an inch deep." I had never heard that phrase before, but it instantly struck my heart! Was that me? Was my faith a mile wide and an inch deep? Was I a Christian on the outside, but not on the inside? Was my trust in God just deep enough that no one could see the shame and sadness that was overtaking me? That thought hurt!

But it was all the motivation I needed to start digging into the "days of Noah." I read and reread Noah's story in Genesis... many times. I did the same with the verses in Matthew. And all the while I kept asking myself - what are you trying to tell me, Lord?

What happened next was strictly a God thing! The longer that question hung over me, the deeper into scripture I went. And before long, I was looking at that Bible nerd in the mirror each morning! He's a sneaky one... He is!

Not only did "the days of Noah" restore my soul, but it also taught me a badly needed lesson. It taught me the importance of God's Word. It taught me - reminded me - WHY I need God's Word. It feeds me! It sustains me from day to day. And without it, I am weak.

I think that's what the people in Noah's day forgot, or maybe ignored. They ignored God for so long that they didn't even recognize that still small voice that tried to warn them. They ignored it until it was too late! They convinced themselves they were fine - they were fine living their lives of corruption and idol worship. They left God out of the picture.

Until the rain started.

I never want to be so far away from God that I ignore the clouds banking up on the horizon. I want to be the one God finds righteous in a world full of chaos. I want to build my faith as big as Noah built the ark. Big enough to hold all my worries and sorrows and stupid decisions. Big enough to get me through whatever storm lurks in the distance. His word gives me all the instructions I need to build it, but it's up to me to do the work.

Step one: Get off the couch.

Step two: Be comfortable sitting in the silence.

Step three: Recognize the voice that isn't mine.

Step four: Read the instructions!

... be thankful the instructions are there throughout the entire project!

Genesis 6:5-8

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.