“When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Genesis 5:29

Like a hammer hitting a nail, this prophesy keeps ringing in my ears:

How did Noah bring “relief from our work“?

Maybe it was his reverent fear or his obedience?

Or, maybe it was the ark’s symbol of hope or its protection of the Remnant?

Relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

Oh, the labor required to build a respite from labor!

Oh, the faith, the obedience, the submission, the dogged single-minded focus to build a respite from labor!

Like a hungry dependent animal, a question begs me:

Do I work to bring “relief from our work…”?

Skimming over Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, my eyes pop out as I read in his words: “bring relief,” “bring relief,” “bring relief”.

An ark, perhaps, for a man named Ryan when he comes home from his work all day.

An ark, perhaps, for two little girls when they wake up and when they fall asleep.

An ark, perhaps, for my neighbors who are concerned about unemployment, cancer, aging, marriage, gardening, friendship, and eternity.

Like the reverberating ding of the hammer, I can hear the possible rippling impact of my labor: building a relief for a family, and possibly a world.