Too Late

 

 

Build a what?

An ark?

What is that?

Between my knowledge base

And this ark-thing was a huge gap.

 

But not for long,

I was given specific instructions

Which I followed to a “T”

And that without question.

 

Finally, it was completed

Down to the very last nail,

Pitched within and without

It was now ready to sail.

 

Two by two

The animals came,

Their variety of sounds

Making a cacophonous refrain.

 

Their homing devices

Set to destination, the ark,

Ordered by an unseen power

Before the imminent dark.

 

And I in awe

At this turn of events,

Meanwhile they that should know better

Refusing to repent.

 

 

Mocking and laughing

And having loads of fun,

Unaware of the pending peril

From which they cannot run.

 

That is, of course,

Unless they follow the animals

They would soon be past tense:

An eradicated people.

 

A flood?

What flood?

Old Noah, are you mad?

All of that work for absolutely nothing,

How foolish, how sad!

 

A massive boat

And no water to float it,

Poor Noah had lost his senses

And didn’t know how to quit.

 

Persistence is all right

When you are aware of your goal,

But surely not in Noah’s case

He was now in a hole.

 

 

A massive boat

Built in the middle of nowhere

With no water to sail it

And none likely to appear.

 

And so, they mocked

And so, they laughed

Not recognizing

This was their final repast.

 

 

 

An evening at the movies

Suddenly turned sour

And their fun turned to horror

That very hour.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

Must Be A Joke

 

 

Ha, ha, ha,

He must be a joke

In the middle of nowhere

He builds a boat

 

How will he move it?

This massive boat

Without water

How will it float?

 

He mentions a flood

That is to come

Let us all taunt him

And have some fun

 

 

Seven people only

Were assisting Noah

So building the ark

Was quite slow

 

It was a long time

Before the flood

For the naysayers

This was good

 

One hundred years

And twenty more

Noah and family

Had to be sore

 

Bearing the brunt

Of everyone’s jokes

A warning he gave

Every time he spoke

 

A flood is coming

He preached to them

But not one convert

What a problem!

 

 

Building a boat

And preaching too

Such a long time

Breeds a dim view

 

The more he preached

The less they heard

And building a boat

Was just absurd

 

A long time passes

After a long time

Something simple

Strikes the mind

 

Only animals respond

To Father Noah

Two by two

They begin to show

Into the ark

These animals went

But the human beings

Refuse to repent

 

Still they laughed

At Father Noah

And they totally enjoyed

His free show

 

Ignoring the signs

The animals displayed

Must be a joke

So they say

 

“What is that?”

One of them asked

This time of course

No one laughed

 

“Water,” one said

And up they looked

  But by this time

The ark’s door was shut

Must be a joke

But the joke’s on them

Not one of them

Knew how to swim

  

Drowned they all did

Every single one

But for all in the ark

Came a new dawn

 

It was after the flood

When they disembarked

Noah and his family

Made a new start

 

Must be a joke

I am hearing you say

The joke will be on you

One of these days

 

Heed the call now

The bridegroom comes

He could be here

Before this day is done

 

 

Must be a joke

But you won’t laugh

If you don’t get in

Before time is past

 

Ha, ha, ha,

You’ll be the joke

In the middle of nowhere

Without a hope

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019

 

 

Shut-In with the LORD

It may have had the best gopher wood

It may have had the best floodlights

But these were not the reasons why

He survived those forty days and nights.

Noah was obedient to God’s command

And surely he did everything right

But this was not the reason why

He was able to survive that plight.

The ark was strong; there is no doubt

And certainly a very sea-worthy boat

But neither of these I dare must say

Can get that unanimous vote.

The ark was pitch within and without

It was certainly watertight

But as the reason for his survival

Such could never be deemed as right.

So shift your focus from the ark

And away from its obedient builder,

Unless you get past the human element

You’d never be any wiser.

Follow me to the book of beginnings

And there you will find the source:

Now turn with me to Genesis 7

And have a look at the 16th verse.

Into the ark they all did go

And no doubt Noah was the last to enter

But it was not he who shut the door

Prior to their coming adventure.

It was the LORD that “shut him in”

Go and read it for yourself

And if you still believe otherwise

Then your glasses are on the shelf.

I have derived a new term for trust

It is to be “shut-in” with the LORD,

To let go and let Him in every respect

Certainly brings great reward.

  

We encounter many floods in our life

And often we are overwhelmed,

We take all kinds of expert advice

In the hope the fallout we can stem.

But our first and last resort should be

The LORD that calms our storms

For to be shut-in with Him and Him alone

Should be our every day norm.

I say thanks to a friend on Messenger

That sent me an encouraging word,

Such was the inspiration for this poem

I am glad that you too have heard.

Stewart Russell © December 2018

Grace Trumps Obedience

There was a man named Noah

He was mandated to build an ark

He assiduously committed to the task

Right from the very start.

It was not easy one would imagine

For this boat was very huge

But he laboured on it night and day

Due to the coming deluge.

God’s word he did not doubt

That it would rain for forty days

And so while building he also preached

To the people to change their ways.

But the people laughed him to scorn

And they continued as before

But Noah would not be deterred

And continued to preached the more.

Year after year had passed

And there was not even a trace of rain

But Noah kept on building the ark

And from his preaching did not refrain.

One could just imagine

When the first twenty years had passed

How those people must have felt

About Noah’s seagoing craft.

For there was no sea around

And not even a semblance of rain

And here was this crazy man

Building an ark in vain.

“I wonder how he would move it,”

Somebody must have thought

But none of their silly observations

Caused Noah to be distraught.

So on and on he worked

Till one hundred years had passed

And still the abuse kept on coming

But Noah stuck to the task.

  

There are some who will opine

It was Noah’s obedience that saved him

But I pause to state emphatically

That view is rather dim.

God’s word points out one and all

That before Noah had laid a plank

He had found grace in God’s own sight

It is God’s grace we have to thank.

There’s nothing that we can do

To merit the favour of God

For grace is God’s unmerited favour

And this must be spread abroad.

Noah had preached to the people around

That God would send a flood

But for one hundred and twenty years

The people against him stood.

Not one of them had repented

And had taken advantage of God’s grace

And so the flood came as appointed

And they vanished without trace.

But Noah and his immediate family

Were safe in the belly of the ark,

‘It’s time we heed the glorious message

The angelic host still bids us, “Hark!”

God’s grace is extended to one and all

As he bids us all to come in,

Would you today believe His word?

Would you be saved from your sin?

Stewart Russell © January 2018