When “American Idol” alum Colton Dixon released his song, “Build a Boat,” in April, he had no idea how much of a hit it would become.
The song, which was inspired by the biblical story of Noah, spent more than 45 weeks on the Hot Christian Songs chart. For 10 of those weeks, it was in the number one spot on Billboard’s Christian radio chart.
Dixon was taught the story of Noah while growing up in church. However, later in life, he has come to believe that many portrayals of the story, including some from Hollywood, have misunderstood the biblical account.
Dixon told ChurchLeaders, “There’s this big struggle between God and Noah, with Noah saying, ‘You’ve got the wrong guy. I don’t want to do it.’ And God asks Noah to build an ark—giving him all the specifications—and then the Bible says Noah did exactly as God had asked him. Period. There was no wavering. Noah was faithful.”
Noah’s faithfulness really challenged Dixon’s own faith walk.
“I want to be known as someone who, when God asks me to do something that makes zero sense in the natural, that my response is yes,” he said.
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“God isn’t going to ask you to do something just because he feels like it. I think he’s trying to get something to you,” Dixon said. “His plans for us are to prosper us—not to harm us—to give us hope and a future. He knows the best case scenario for us. So when he asks you to do something that doesn’t make sense, we would be a fool not to trust and to go along with it.”
Dixon explained that he wrote “Build a Boat” to inspire people to obey God because God promised rain and is always faithful.
In a world filled with hardships, Dixon encouraged pastors “not to give up just before you see the breakthrough.” Dixon said he believes that “faith is the thing that precedes a miracle. Faith is the only thing that pleases God, actually.”
“So when you’re hit with opposition, or when you don’t know what else to do, just keep having faith,” Dixon said. “Keep trusting that God is on the throne, because he is. And it might not be tomorrow, but the miracle is on its way. So just keep having faith.”
“Build a Boat” will be one of seven tracks featured on Dixon’s upcoming EP, titled “Canvas,” which is set to be released on April 28.
