Tide, Tidilick, and Tundra

Would you drive through this?  By faith I mean.

"Stupid is as stupid does" - wisdom from Forest Gump's mom.  Stupidity is demonstrated by our actions.  This past week I used all of my advanced education and decided to make the plunge.  Yep - taking Molly's Tundra for a swim.  The water looked shallow enough.  Besides, it was a Tundra - a big truck - all of the other vehicles turning around to find another way were sissies.  No faith.  When the tide from the swollen creek engulfed the Tundra and began sweeping me into the trees I had a weird flashback. (My mind often does this - so don't worry too much or maybe you should.)

Noah you know but Tidilick the Giant Frog? Both got wet, according to ancient stories of cataclysmic floods.  A few years ago I had the opportunity to be "on mission" in Australia. In aboriginal mythology, Tidilick the Giant Frog is said to have drained every drop of water in the Outback. His friends, the kangaroos, grew thirsty, as you might expect they would, but they didn't know what to do.  Finally, one smart kangaroo thought to tickle Tidilick. When the frog laughed, his water broke, as it were, creating an enormous flood that washed everyone out of their homes. It was a wet, wild day.  It's just a story. It never really happened. A giant frog? Naah. But a giant flood? Absolutely.


They are people whose minds are as large as the floods they seek to understand. They are the ones who see what others don't see. They look where others don't look. They think thoughts others don't dare to ponder. They are people who take risks, who think, and plan, then act. They are persistent, counterintuitive, revolutionary people. Their successful work speaks for itself.  (Risk Takers! I am reaching here - attempting to justify and rationalize my stupidity - grant me grace.)  So what sort of ancient man builds a boat at the command of a God he cannot see? And what sort of God asks him to do it? The words "eccentric" and "patient" come to mind. The man's building a boat, the first of its kind, on dry land, in anticipation of a natural phenomenon that had never occurred before; moreover, he's cooped up in cramped quarters with his wife and family, not to speak of a boat load of animals, for 40 days and 40 nights.

That aside, the Scripture records that he was a faithful man, so much so that he's listed in the Bible's Who's Who of Faith Heroes in Hebrews 11, because he trusted God, pouring his time, efforts and resources into a project that even to Bob Vila would've looked crazy and stupid. Did Noah have doubts? Probably. Did he sometimes question himself? Likely. Wouldn't you? But faith, a lamp in the darkness of unbelief, gave him enough light to carry on.

Noah was a risk-taker, a man who wagered his reputation, his wealth and all that he had on an idea - the idea that it is healthier to listen to what God says, than not to listen. Noah's character was strong enough to endure ridicule, tongue-clucking, name-calling and derision. He must have had high tolerance for public embarrassment. (I can relate - can you? If you are a married man you can.)

Noah was a righteous man, living in an unrighteous time, yet he was able to make good choices, instead of succumbing to the wicked ideas of his day. It is always hard to be righteous and countercultural. It is as difficult now as it was then to choose God, and to stick with God, no matter what.

Noah was a persistent man. Mrs. Noah might have called him stubborn. How much work does it take to build a huge ark without power tools or a lumber mill when you are 600 years young? How many years, how much effort, how much wealth, did it take to build that thing in his back yard? It is obvious Noah was persistent. He didn't give up. He stuck to it. He never quit. Finally, he was a man who "walked with God," 6:9. He knew the companionship and fellowship of God, and when you have that in your life, you can put up with just about anything else.

When it was all over and when the sky had cleared, and the seas calmed, then came God's promise to us - that there'll be no Tidilick regurgitating flood waters to drown the earth ever again.  Instead, God put his promise in the sky for all to see, for all to remember that promise, and to remember Noah and what character traits it takes to be a woman or man of faith.  

Tundra survives the tide in spite of my stupidity
and - so did I

When my life flashed before my eyes in last week's deluge - God gave me a "rainbow" and I hit land before I hit the tree line near the creek.  Giant faith?  Probably not.  Grace?  Mercy?  Luck?  Maybe.  But this I do know - never again will I risk being one that would need rescue by helicopter, grappling hook (or body bag). When all was said and done I reaffirmed: Giant Faith matters.  Not Giant Frogs.  And that I need to love God with all my MIND and beware of the tide.  And, yes, I am still married. :)