Noah's Secret: Building When You Can't See the Rain

That was Noah's reality. And if we're honest, it's ours too.

The Confirmation Addiction

We live in an instant world. Send a text, get a reply. Post something, count the likes. Make a decision, see results by Friday.

Then God shows up asking us to build something that won't make sense for decades. Here's what wrecks me about Noah's story in Genesis 6-9: God gave him detailed blueprints. Exact measurements. Specific wood type. But He left out one crucial detail—when the rain would come.

"Noah did everything just as God commanded him" (Genesis 6:22 NIV).

Everything. For a century. Without a single raindrop of confirmation.

The Difference Between Belief and Trust

Let me mess with your theology for a minute. You can believe in God without trusting Him.

James 2:19 makes this uncomfortably clear: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder" (NIV).

Belief is mental. Trust is actionable.

• Belief says, "God can provide."
• Trust quits the secure job when He says move.
• Belief says, "God has a plan."
• Trust builds the ark before seeing clouds.
• Belief says, "God is faithful."
• Trust steps into the calling when the math doesn't work.

I believed God called me to step into the season that I'm in, to pour into our amazing church family at Eagle Mountain, to write my books, to build The Human Nexus... But did I trust Him? That's where my white knuckles gave me away.

Why We Need Immediate Validation

Here's the brutal truth: Our need for confirmation is really our need for control dressed up in spiritual language.

We want God to show us the whole movie before we'll play our part. We want guarantees. Timelines. Proof that we heard right.

But faith doesn't work that way.

Hebrews 11:1 defines it: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (NIV).

Not "what we see coming." Not "what makes sense." What we do NOT see. Noah embodies this. Every day for 36,500 days, he woke up and chose to trust what he couldn't see over what he could.

The Mocking and the Math

Let's talk about what Noah faced that we gloss over in Sunday School:

The Social Cost: His entire community thought he was insane. These weren't strangers on social media. These were his neighbors. His friends. People he'd known for decades.

The Financial Cost: Building a 450-foot boat isn't free. Noah invested everything into something that had zero immediate return.

The Time Cost: 100 years. Not 100 days. Years. Most of us can't stick to a gym routine for 100 days, and this man built for a century.

The Faith Cost: Every morning he had to choose between what God said once and what his eyes saw daily.

Sound familiar?

The Framework for Sustained Obedience

After wrestling with Noah's story and my own journey, here's what I've learned about long-term obedience without confirmation:

1. Anchor to the Original Word
2. Measure Obedience, Not Outcomes
3. Find Your Remnant
4. Prepare for the "Almost Quit" Moments
The Community Question

Here's what we miss about Noah—he built alone while everyone watched.

No building crew. No construction volunteers. No church small group showing up on Saturdays to help.

Just a man, his family, and a promise.

This is perhaps the hardest part of following God's call. Sometimes He asks us to build something nobody else understands. Sometimes the very people who should support us become our biggest critics.

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8 NIV).

Not in the eyes of his community. Not in the eyes of his critics. In the eyes of the Lord.

When the Rain Finally Comes

Here's what nobody talks about: When the rain finally came, it wasn't just validation for Noah. It was destruction for everyone who mocked him.

There's a sobering reality here. The thing God asks you to build isn't just for you. It's an ark for others. Your obedience creates space for other people's survival. But they won't see it until the rain comes.

The Question That Changes Everything

What if God's timeline is actually perfect?

What if those 100 years weren't just about building a boat but building Noah's faith?

What if your waiting isn't wasted but preparation?

What if the very thing frustrating you—the delay, the silence, the lack of confirmation—is the thing preparing you to handle what's coming?

Stop waiting for rain. Start building anyway.

1. Write down your original calling - What did God actually say? Not what you wish He said. What He said.
2. Identify one daily obedience - What's one thing you can do today that moves the build forward?
3. Name your remnant - Who are the 2-3 people who believe in what you're building?
4. Accept the timeline - Stop demanding God work on your schedule. He's never been late. Not once.

The Secret Nobody Tells You

Noah's secret wasn't superhuman faith. It wasn't the absence of doubt. It wasn't even clarity about the timeline. Noah's secret was simple: He kept building when he couldn't see the rain. One board at a time. One day at a time. One act of obedience at a time.

For 100 years.

And when the rain finally came, the ark was ready. Not because Noah was special. Because Noah was obedient. The rain is coming for your obedience too. You just can't see the clouds yet.

Keep building anyway.


Onward...

Chris Behnke

Next week in Part 3: We'll discover how to move from white-knuckle faith to actual rest—the low-stress miracle of trusting God's sovereignty over your need for control.