The Bible is full of examples of great leaders. People who made a difference in the lives of others, who influenced people, who changed lives, communities, and nations. But when we start with Noah we start with a man who changed the world. Without Noah, you would not even be here right now. No human would. The flood would have destroyed us all. The world would be all fish! Now, that’s leadership!

He lived 950 years, but even then he packed more into it than most of us would have done given that chance! He lived in the wickedest generation there had ever been in all of history, but rather than go with the flow, he followed God and walked with God and “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6.8).

So, our first lesson from Noah is that he walked to the beat of a different drum. He was not the same as everyone else. He did not share in the wickedness of the world. This is one of the essential keys to leadership – to not be running with the crowd. Paul told the Corinthian church that He thanked God that He prayed in tongues more than all of them. Someone had to lead the Corinthian church out of all their selfish and foolish misuse of the gifts of the Spirit, and it wasn’t someone who only prayed in tongues on Sunday when the music was just right. No it was the person who prayed in tongues the most. It was the one who was different who led, not the one who was the same. We have to be different to this wicked world, and we have to stand out to lead. Do not worry about being fanatical about the Word, about praying in tongues, about developing your character. That is what marks you as a leader. God was looking for a man, and God found Noah, the man who was different.

Never be afraid to be different. Never be afraid to be the only one doing what you do. If no-one else lives for God, live for you. If no one else prays. pray. If no one else turns up on time for church, turn up on time for church. If no one else tithes, tithe. You do it because it is right – make the right choice.

All our influence as leaders comes from the choices we make. We need to choose God, choose to pray, choose to live right no matter what society is doing, we need to choose to study the Word, to build what God tells us to build. God is looking for people who will walk with Him. Noah was making decisions in his own life, simple choices to obey God, and through that became a leader that changed the whole world, and we are still talking about him today.

Our second lesson from Noah is do not be afraid to do something that no one else has done. No one has ever built a boat on dry land, no one ever built an ark like that, no one had ever preached about a coming worldwide flood. People could not even have that immense image, but Noah did and he preached it and taught it. Do not be afraid to do what God has called you to do, do not let “it’s never been done that way before” stop you ever!

A third thing we learn about Noah is he impacted his Family. His children came on the ark with him. He made a difference in his family. When you live a life that is different from the world, a life before God, your family will notice. God chose Noah to build the ark because Noah was a man of faith, but Noah’s building of faith did not just benefit him. It benefitted all his family too. When you do what is right, your whole family will be better off.

A fourth thing we find out about Noah is that his faith benefitted future generations. I have just been reading some books by Kenneth Hagin. I never met him, he passed in 2003, and I never had the opportunity to have heard him preach. But some of my closest friends and mentors were mentored by him, his books and videos have changed my whole life. That’s a generational legacy. Maybe no one has the generational legacy of Noah because he literally saved the human race, but he actually did even more than that. After the flood, he introduced laws and shared about the truth and his story has influenced people from children to adults for generations to stand for God, to build what we are told and to trust His love. We are all links in a chain, so be a good link!