The First Vacation

By definition vacation means a period of time away from work or study for rest and relaxation. I don’t know of any vacations that don’t require a little work on our part to get there. Sometimes the work is different from what we normally do and perhaps that can be relaxing? Depends on the person I imagine.  I wonder if Noah’s adventure on the ark was a vacation?

With all these weather reports of rain covering the east coast I couldn’t help but think about Noah. Noah who when asked by God to build a boat did, even though he didn’t know what rain was. And his sons built the ark with him. Grown married men,  respected and trusted their dad to work along side him without any remorse, even when they were ridiculed by there peers.  Why? Because Noah walked with God and had a relationship with Him that was unquestionable.

So I ask, can you imagine building a ship in the middle of dry land? It’s measurements were so large it was about 90 ft. longer than a football field. The width was 75 feet. Take the width of a football field and cut it in half. Now within that space this ark was three stories high, 15 feet between each story. The architecture and the material used blows my mind. All hand made.  It’s no big deal to us now, but it was for Noah.

Now to the rain. Once Noah’s family and all the animals were loaded, God shut him in. Waters came up from the ground and poured from the heavens. It rained constant, non-stop for 40 days and 40 nights. Sometimes we complain about a few days, let alone over a month straight! And it wasn’t like the boat parked on a mountain and it was over. The rain stopped but the waters swelled. They swelled (increased) for one hundred fifty days. When the time came for the waters to abate Noah and his family had been in the great ship for more than 190 days.

The water was more than 270 feet above the highest mountain. Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet above sea level. I can’t even imagine that much water!

The point? The water may come, but the sun is still shining. And at the end is a rainbow of color beyond beauty, a promise. You want to know more, check it out in Genesis chapters 6-8. I dare you to discover it for yourself…You’ve got plenty of time it’s raining anyway.