Noah is a beautiful example of one who lived a life of hope. He lived in a culture where men and women had forgotten God. The Lord Jesus describes the culture of Noah’s day, saying, “They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark” (Mt. 24:38). Life was being lived by leaving God completely out of the picture, not giving Him a thought! This is very much like our own day. Noah stands as an example to us of what living a life of hope really looks like.

Noah had hope in God, even when things were unpleasant all around Him. In Genesis 6 we read of the conditions of the heart of man in Noah’s time, “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Just like today, hoping in God was an unpopular thing. But in spite of the culture around him, Noah hoped in his God, believed His word, and did “according to all that God commanded him” (v. 22).

Peter describes Noah as “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), not only by what he spoke, but by the way he lived out the hope he had in his God! Noah’s hope led him to trust in the word of God, even if God did not seem to be in a hurry. Noah labored building the ark for about 120 years, which gave plenty of time for ridicule from the skeptics of his day. Our day is no different: we must remember, “the Lord … is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (3:9).

Like Noah, we can hope in our God even when the future is unknown. The future may be unknown to us, but it is in His loving, all powerful hands!