Dare to be Different

The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:7-8

In a world full of wickedness and immorality, God found one man who he could trust. How does one single man live a life of honor in the midst of evil? How was he able to live a life pleasing to God in that environment? How did Noah hold on to his faith in the kind of world he lived in? I guess the same can be said for us believers in the world we live in today. How difficult is it for you to not live a life of compromise today? Do you constantly have to brace yourself in the morning before you walk into the office? How do we live differently from the unbelievers? Is it easy to tell us apart?

We cannot live a life different from what the world expects without faith. It was Noah’s personal faith that made him upright in the sight of the Lord. I don’t believe Noah could have lived an impressive life in the eyes of God in his own strength. He was probably imperfect in terms of his character but his honest and genuine faith in God was made him stand apart from the pack. Noah’s life helps me to understand that it is not the climate in which I find myself that determines whether I will be faithful to God; it is my heart that makes the difference. I know I have no brownie points by which I can be blameless in the sight of God. My blamelessness comes from my strong and unwavering belief in what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary for my sins.

We can be different if we choose not to be a people or self pleaser. We can be different if we make a commitment to be a God pleaser. Noah was definitely the kind of man who did not care about how people perceived him. He didn’t have a desperate need to be accepted by others. He also was not the kind of man who was easily deterred by hateful and demeaning comments. I can only imagine what people said about him as he built an ark in a region where rain never fell! They would have called him delusional and crazy. But Noah obviously did not care about all of that. He was more interested in the task God wanted him to perform. He was more occupied with fulfilling the will of God.

As a believer, is your life different? Do people talk to you and immediately know that there is something different about you? Or do you fit into the world and its ways? Are you constantly compromising you faith in order to get along and to belong? Are you so desperate to be accepted and loved by others that you hide your faith when you are out in public?