NOACH: escaping is not weakness, it's human. The lesson with Noah's vineyard

Ten generations after Adam came Noah. Within that time period the bible relates that society became exceedingly evil to the point where God decided to destroy all life on earth. However, God saw righteousness in Noah and decided to start the world again with him. God appears to Noah warning him that a flood will come upon the earth like never seen before and wipe out all life. God instructs Noah to build a massive ark to survive the flood. This ark had to be large enough to hold one male and one female of every animal species. Time passes and as the ark is finally ready Noah and his immediate family enter the ark and the waters come pouring down. For 40 days and nights the heavens poured on the world to the point where the waters covered the highest mountain tops. For a year Noah and his family took shelter in the ark that God miraculously kept afloat. Until Noah sent out a dove who returned with an olive branch signaling to him that the waters had receded enough for him to set foot on dry land. The world Noah once knew when he stepped into the ark was far different from the one he found himself in when he stepped out. Noah stepped out of the Ark into a desolate world. No noise, no people, no voices, no life. Just emptiness and silence. A world once filled with color and life was gone. And having to deal with the ruins of a desolate world broke Noah. The bible states that Noah planted a vineyard, made wine and got drunk. Noah needed an escape and he found one. He built an ark and saved himself, but now he was faced with the ruins—and he simply couldn’t cope. Noah didn’t get drunk because he was weak but because he was human. Because sometimes even the most faithful people need moments to forget about the pain that they are going through. Every single human being has some kind of escape. Whether it’s scrolling on your phone, food, netflix, alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc. Whatever it may be, every human being has some kind of distraction that helps them escape from their real life. And it all started with Noah. We can find that every human circumstance can be found within the Bible, together with the wisdom to resolve it. Noah continues to get drunk and only causes more problems for himself as a result of it. He curses his own son and causes division between his family. God’s message to Noah was, you can keep on escaping but escaping is not going to heal the pain – it’s only going to prolong it. Eventually you are going to have to face your reality. You can keep on numbing yourself but eventually the wine is going to wear off and you’re going to have to deal with your issues. You can keep on getting drunk but that’s not going to get you anywhere. Eventually you are going to have to deal with the ruins. And the sooner you stop escaping from your issues and start facing them head on is the sooner that you can get past them. But like Noah we have such a hard time dealing with our issues, feeling the things we don’t want to feel and accepting reality for what it is. A big root of human suffering is fighting reality. Fighting what we can’t change. The moment that we can radically accept reality for whatever it may be is the moment we can create peace with it and only then can we begin to move forward. But most of us when we are uncomfortable with our pain we seek escape. And there’s no doubt it’s nice and needed sometimes. Noah was the most faithful and righteous person of his entire generation. So much so that God chose him to start the world over with. And yet even him, he needed moments to forget and escape because what he was facing was too much for him to bear. But God’s message to Noah was, how long are you going to keep doing that for? How long will you continue to escape? Because this world that you keep trying to escape from, it’s waiting for you. Waiting for you to do, to create, to replant, to rebuild, to start again. The same message is true for your life. We have endless opportunities for escape from our lives but God is waiting on you to say, ‘that’s it, I’m going to face my life for what it is, I’m going to accept it and rebuild from where I am.’ This is a transformational lesson we learn from Noah for we are all Noah. All the characters in the bible are archetypes that live within every human being. We all have our distractions, it’s normal and human, it doesn't make you weak to need to escape from your life but it’s simply not productive. It only prolongs the pain and exacerbates the issues you are facing. Yes, you can escape from your life—and for a while, it may even feel good. But the wine wears off, and you can’t distract yourself forever. The life you’re avoiding is still there, waiting for you. Waiting for you to look it in the eye and say, “I’m going to get through this. I’m going to face this. I’m going to overcome this uncomfortable emotion.” Escaping will always be an option, but it will never take you forward. Life is waiting for you—waiting for you to begin again, to rebuild, to pick up where you left off. The life God has prepared for you is waiting for you. But to step into that purpose, you have to put down the wine and face the life He’s called you to live in. Noah could continue to distract himself but the world he was avoiding was waiting for him to recreate it. The same holds true for your life.