Noah spent 120 years in advent–that’s how long he spent waiting and “becoming”for the big natural disaster that God told him was coming.

He had a few things to do to get ready–like build a boat that was as long as a football field plus half. He had to get buy-in from his wife and kids–not easy when what he told them sounded absolutely crazy. Not only that, when the neighbors wanted to know what was going on, Noah told them to “watch out and get ready” because the flood’s coming.

Surely some people must have believed him at first. Surely someone stayed up at night for a while listening for thunder, but how long did that last? A few weeks? A month? 120 years?

And did Noah ever begin to wonder if he’d heard wrong? Everybody else seemed to think so. Not Noah—he refused to accept the reality that there was no place to sail off into the sunset. He persisted in building a boat in a dry, sandy desert. As far as the world was concerned, Noah spent 120 years becoming crazier every day during his advent waiting for the flood.

What was he thinking?

I think that’s our clue, our take-away. What was Noah thinking about for 120 years, and how did that affect his attitude, his beliefs, his actions, his conversation?

It’s our time of advent, too.

What are we thinking?