God Seeks Faith

God saw the wickedness on earth in the time of Noah and it was very bad.

It was for this reason that He would destroy the whole world and everything in it with a flood. He hated evil and was grieved by it.

But Noah had found grace in His sight. He is described as a just man in a wicked generation. But all flesh was corrupt. It was filled with violence. No one would stand with Noah in the end besides his family.

The flood had not yet come. There was no sign of it. In fact, Genesis 2 suggests that rain had not yet existed. There was simply a dew.

It is in this context that God tells Noah to build an ark:

[Gen 6:14-21 NKJV] 14 "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 "And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it [with] lower, second, and third [decks]. 17 "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which [is] the breath of life; everything that [is] on the earth shall die. 18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 "And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every [sort] into the ark, to keep [them] alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 "Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every [kind] will come to you to keep [them] alive. 21 "And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather [it] to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them."

This was a huge project. It would take immense energy, tact and time to build this ark.
Besides, how was he even going to find pairs for every animal? How was he gonna bring them to the ark? It seemed like an impossibility.

We can add on top of that that no sign of a flood was there. And no one really had a true faith anymore. Was it not more convenient to just not believe what God had said?
Was it not more convenient to act on what people around him would probably think?

And yet it is said:

[Gen 6:22 NKJV] 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Noah believed and therefore he obeyed. And in this way he was saved from the flood.

He heard the voice of God and did not doubt it. And he showed this faith by action.
It is this kind of living faith that rather gives us an impression of how Noah was described earlier:

[Gen 6:9 NKJV] 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

Now God just have made the ark Himself. He did not need Noah to make it for Him. He could have kept Noah safe in some miraculous way. But He did not do it this way.
Instead He asked a living faith from Noah that also required action. It was in this way Noah would be saved. It was a far more collaborative process. Later God Himself brought the animals in the ark and shut the door. He kept Noah safe and it is not strange to think he gave Noah wisdom and power to achieve success in this project.
But Noah himself had to build the ark and take action by faith. 

It is this kind of faith that God often seeks. He wants living faith. Often He wants us to work with Him in simple trust in His word, even if it is hard to believe it. He has shown Himself faithful in the past or in other ways and this should move us further.

This is how God works with His people. It is in this way He acts with those who found grace in His eyes.
And those who act accordingly are like Noah, who was a just man, perfect in his generations. They walk with God.

This is the kind of faith and walk He expects from us. Trusting, active, faithful. He Himself works with this and responds to this kind of faith.