No, I haven’t been to the Ark Encounter, but I’ve read the book. There are so many questions with this story that boggle the mind. In fact, you might call it a conundrum. A conundrum is defined in the dictionary as a confusing or difficult question – a riddle or puzzle – a pun. The story of Noah and the ark is filled with conundrums. How did he get two of every kind of animal on that boat? How did they feed them? Did the animals eat each other and call it a cruise with an endless buffet? Was the meat Kosher? Well, the questions create all kinds of images and make us laugh, but Noah was really faced with a conundrum when God approached him one day and told him to build an ark. Can you imagine? 

First of all, where did he get all the materials? I don’t think there was a Home Depot in the neighborhood. There wasn’t a lot of wood to be found in his little town. How about that gopher wood. Did someone have to go for it? God was very specific in his blueprint for this vessel. He also provided for the necessary elements to make it happen. This story could be considered an epic tale or a legend. However, the fact that it’s included in the Bible and that almost every nation has some kind of great flood story to tell, is more than enough proof for me.

God’s book is filled with stories that cause a conundrum. We might call them impossible narratives. We wonder how, why, when, where and who accomplished them and that makes us suspect the truth of them. However, God’s Word is truth and I believe that this story was an actuality. I also believe that God can do anything, provide everything, cause things to happen that seem inconceivable and turn things around at a moment’s notice.

We face conundrums each day. We struggle with problems that seem impossible at the moment. We try to fix the unfixable. We hang on to our own abilities instead of trusting in the One who created the world, the universe, everything. If we turn to Him in the first place, we’d probably have less conundrums to worry about. The solutions to our problems are all in God’s hands and part of a greater plan for us. That doesn’t mean we should sit back and wait for things to happen and problems to just go away. Noah didn’t sit there and angst over the state of morality in his world. He didn’t complain to Mrs. Noah about the condition of the politics of the time. He built an ark and through him, God saved the world.