When the Task is Great and Your Strength Is Small

What’s the hardest task you’ve ever faced? I can imagine a variety of answers. 

Many would say motherhood. The thought of caring for one or more children from before birth to independence (and beyond) often overwhelms new and prospective parents. To bear the sole responsibility for feeding, clothing, educating, protecting, nurturing, shepherding, doctoring, training, and the myriad of other tasks that fall under the job description Parent is monumental. 

Others would say being a caregiver is the hardest thing they’ve ever done. Many have accepted (or had thrust upon them) the responsibility of caring for, feeding, transporting, protecting, and advocating for a sick spouse, child, or parent. In many ways, this responsibility can be even more complex and difficult than caring for the needs of young children. 

Still others would say single parenting, working in a challenging and thankless job, staying married to a difficult spouse, parenting a prodigal child, pastoring a struggling church, battling an addiction, completing a long-term project, or clinging to faith in desperate circumstances is overwhelmingly difficult. 

If you're facing an insurmountable task today, consider the story of Noah in Genesis 6 and 7. “Noah was a just man,” Genesis 6:9 says. “Noah walked with God.” 

One day God called Noah to a monumental task – to build an ark. 

I’ve read these four words a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. My eyes slide over them with barely a pause. “Noah, build an ark.” Got it. 

But think for a moment. 

What exactly did God call Noah to do? Build an ark. Not a boat. Or a barge. Or a flotilla. An ARK – an ark that could comfortably house two of every species of bird and animal in the world. 

Did you know the ark was 450 feet long? And 75 feet wide? That’s 150 feet longer and 25 feet wider than a football field. A FOOTBALL FIELD. It was three stories high, built of gopher wood, and covered in pitch. 

One man, Noah. Three sons (I assume they helped). And three axes. (There were no saw mills, hardware stores, or power tools back in Noah’s day). 

Ken Ham, from Answers in Genesis, set out to build a true-to-size model of Noah’s ark as part of the Ark Encounter exhibit. According to the Wikipedia, the giant boat, which was constructed by Amish builders using traditional timber framing techniques, required more than 1,000 craftsmen. Even with modern tools, a thousand workers, and pre-cut lumber, the project took more than five years to complete. 

It took Noah and his sons twelve decades. One hundred and twenty years. One 40-hour work week, times four men, times 120 years equals 998,400 man hours. 

Can you imagine what went through Noah’s head when God called him to this overwhelming task? 

I’m thankful God hasn’t called any of us to build an ark. But he calls many of us to undertake monumental, overwhelming, I-can’t-do-this-on-my-own tasks every day. 

How did Noah accomplish his incredible feat? And how do we accomplish the seemingly insurmountable tasks God calls us to every day? 

Here are three tips we can learn from Noah: 

1. One day at a time. 

I’m confident Noah didn’t peer into the future and calculate how many trees he’d have to cut down to build a 450 foot boat. He rose every morning and asked God’s blessing on that day’s work. “Do not worry about tomorrow,” Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:36, “for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” This doesn’t mean we fail to plan beyond today. It means we do our best and trust God with the rest. 

2. One task at a time. 

Every day Noah awakened from sleep, picked up his hammer, and did the next thing. He cut a board, hammered a nail, or smeared some pitch. While he followed the grand plan, he knew he’d grow discouraged if he pondered the enormity of the project. By tackling the first task of the day, and then the next, and then the next, we can follow his example. Focusing on the individual steps in the grand plan will help us slowly but surely accomplish the task God has called us to. 

3. One act of obedience at a time. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” I suspect Emerson gleaned this thought from the parable of the stewards (Mat. 25:14-30), where the master rewarded those who faithfully obeyed his instructions in his absence. As they acted upon the master’s promise to reward them upon his return, they secured both temporary and future rewards. 

Like Noah obeyed God’s call to build an ark and trusted God to enable, equip, and provide for him, we too can accept the callings God has ordained for us, even when they seem greater than our abilities. 

The new year lies ahead of us, and many of you are facing monumental tasks. Whether you’re praying for a prodigal, wrestling with cancer, caring for a loved one, or fighting for your marriage, don’t give up. With God’s help, you can build your ark – one day, one task, and one act of obedience at a time. 

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

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