Rhonda Stoppe is the NO REGRETS WOMAN as a speaker and author she helps women build lives with NO REGRETS. Rhonda ministers along side of her husband who pastors at First Baptist Church of Patterson, California, where she teaches, and mentors women. She and her husband live on a ranch in Northern California where Rhonda writes books, for Harvest House Publishers.
Don’t you wish scripture would have given us insight into Mrs. Noah’s response when Noah said something like, “Hey Baby, God told me He’s going to judge the world with a flood, the boys and I are to build a big boat”?
We have no idea how Noah told his family about God’s plan, but we do know that they all got on board, with his ministry–literally.
Noah and his sons worked on the ark for 100 years, while preaching judgment was coming.
That must have been a tough hundred years––without even one convert.
As far as we know, Mrs. Noah never heard directly from God, she simply believed her husband’s testimony. Even though everyone would think they were crazy.
Wow! Are you tracking with me girlfriends? I don’t think that God has ever asked me to step out on faith to that degree. What about you? And, for such a long time. Imagine what would have happened if Noah’s wife had decided not to be supportive. One hundred years of nagging and undermining would have been completely exhausting. The end result of this story is found in God’s own testimony of Noah and his family, “Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him… And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” (Genesis 6:22-7:1)
I just had a very convicting thought. For 100 years, Noah preached repentance to people who did not want to hear about it. All the while, I doubt righteous Noah sat around gossiping to his family about all the stupid people who would not listen to his message. Rather, he preached diligently, and lived uprightly before the Lord––even when he saw no results. Now that’s convicting. Can I get a witness? Have you and your husband ever worked hard in ministry with little or no result?
Noah’s story is encouraging to those of us who minister to the minister. We can encourage our pastor husbands to keep their focus on Christ and on doing what God calls him to––even if no one responds.
As in Noah’s day there was an impending judgment upon the wicked, so it is in our day. God has called us to proclaim the way of salvation to this generation. We must serve alongside of our ministry mates with pure and loving hearts. And remember the success of Noah’s ministry was not in the many converts, but success was in the righteous life he demonstrated before the Lord, his family and his generation. May God say the same about us. The unity in your marriage will be one of your greatest tools to share the gospel, as a watching world looks on. They want to believe there is hope. Your supportive love for your husband is the light of hope they seek. And remember, your most influenced observers will be your own children.
Visit www.NoRegretsWoman.com to book Rhonda for your next women’s event and to order Rhonda’s Books:
-If My Husband Would Change, I’d Be Happy & Other Myths Wives Believe
-Moms Raising Sons to Be Men
-I Sleep with the Pastor
-A Christian Woman’s Guide to Great Sex in Marriage
