Trusting God's Plan: The Story of Noah
(Genesis 6-7)

After Adam and Eve left the garden, the world began to grow, and the promise of a Rescuer became the only hope for fixing our broken relationship with God.

A long time ago, the world was filled with people, but their hearts were filled with sin. Every single thought people had was turned toward doing wrong, and it grieved God to see how far His world had fallen. This made God very sad. He decided He would need to wipe the earth clean and start over, but there was one man who was different. Noah loved God and always tried to do what was right. Noah walked with God, the Bible tells us, just like a close friend walks beside another friend.

God gave Noah a big job: "Build a huge boat, an ark, to save your family and the animals." God told Noah to bring two of every kind of animal, a male and a female, plus seven pairs of certain special animals he could use later to worship. God gave Noah specific instructions to use gopher wood, build it with rooms inside, and cover it with tar to keep the water out. Even though the ark was bigger than three football fields, and even though it had never once rained on the earth before, Noah listened and obeyed exactly as he was told. He did not argue or ask God to change the plan. He simply got to work.

Noah's sons were named Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and they likely helped their father build the massive ark. Year after year, Noah kept building while the sky stayed clear and dry. Once the ark was finished, Noah brought his wife, his three sons, and their wives inside. Then the animals came, kind after kind, walking into the ark just as God had said. After everyone was safely inside, God closed the door Himself. Noah did not shut it. God did, and that meant Noah and his family were safe no matter what came next.

The rain poured down for forty days and forty nights. Water also burst up from springs deep in the earth. The water kept rising higher and higher, day after day, until it covered even the highest mountains in the whole world. Noah and the animals floated safely the whole time, because God was taking care of them. The flood covered the earth for a long time, and everything outside the ark that had breath was gone. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.

The great boat floated on the water for many months until God sent a wind to blow over the earth, and the water began to go down. Finally, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Little by little, the tops of the mountains could be seen again. God had kept His promise to protect Noah's family through the flood, and a new beginning was waiting for the whole world.