Certainty in Uncertainty

 

 

 

Get thee out of thy country

And from thy kindred

And from thy father’s house

To a land I will show thee.

 

To leave all he knows

For that he does not know

Causes the kind of uncertainty

That will no doubt show.

 

God’s first demand

To the patriarch Abraham

Was to leave family, father’s house

And his native land.

 

But God is in command

And therein is certainty

Even to a destination unknown

Full of uncertainty.

 

To leave his province

Was Abram’s first test,

Leaving the known for the unknown

Must have been stress.

 

 

But the certainty he had

Was that God had spoken

And what He had promised him

Was better than a token.

 

Better than the present

Or even the past

For while these were certain,

They could not last.

 

So, leaving he did,

Following God’s command

And by faith he journeyed

To the promised land.

 

You can read Abram’s call

In Genesis the 12^th chapter

Followed by the sacrifice of Isaac

Ten chapters after.

 

The first test was hard

But the second was tougher,

Why not the son of the bond woman

That he had hired?

 

No mistaking the son,

Therein was the certainty

But the challenge, I dear say,

Was that of uncertainty.

 

Genesis 22:2

 

Take now thy son,

Thine only son Isaac,

Whom thou lovest,

And get thee into the land of Moriah;

And offer him there for a burnt offering

 Upon one of the mountains

Which I will tell thee of.

 

First to a land unknown

Then to a mountain range,

To sacrifice his only son, he loved,

Seemed very strange.

 

 

But Abraham was certain

That God had spoken

And to perform this strange request

He obediently hastened.

 

Take now thy son,

Why, that could be Ishmael,

But God requires the very best;

The rest we could sell.

 

Thine only son-

“But God, I have two sons.”

Yes, but only one by the name Isaac;

From this he could not run.

 

Thine only son Isaac,

Whom thou lovest,

That God only takes the very best

Was Abraham’s sternest test.

 

Genesis 22 and verse 2

Speaks to a conversation,

How Abraham wanted to opt out

But such was not an option.

 

 

In the book of James, we read,

God temps no man

But in the book of beginnings

God did tempt Abraham.

 

The uncertainty is

When we don’t understand,

But the certainty that is reassuring

Is that God holds our hand.

 

Stewart Russell © October 22, 2024

 

It’s May Already!

 

 

Can you believe it?

It’s May already

The year having just begun!

And before we can settle

Into the month

May will be already done.

 

It may or may not

After all it is May

And ‘may’ speaks to uncertainty

But rest most assuredly

That June will arrive,

Even if not for you or me.

 

The first day of May

Is called “Labour Day”

Though not for "women in labour"

So, don’t call the Union

If you know of such a one,

There’ll be no such favour.

 

Enjoy your day

As I shall enjoy mine

For it will be over in a flash!

This year is slipping by

At such a tremendous rate,

It’s more like a 100m dash.

Just a short poem

On this special ‘May Day’

As we start this month of May,

Have a great day!

Be safe and be blessed

As you go about your way!

 

Stewart Russell © May 1, 2023

 

Seemingly So

 

 

Seeming is apparent

It’s never definitely certain,

There is still some skepticism

Lurking behind the curtain.

 

As the drama unfolds

So many things can occur

To question the apparent

And make one more unsure.

 

Seeming is never certain

It is more of a hope,

More like a mechanism we use

To help us to cope.

 

A friend once said to me

Ninety-nine percent is still unsure,

There is some reservation

That looms more and more.

 

It is always the uncertainty

That worries us the most,

And it’s only a hundred percent

In which we can boast.

 

 

There is certainty with God

I can think of no one else,

Not even in the greatest human

And surely not in self.

 

You see, God knows everything

And we do not,

Nothing is apparent to Him

But appearance is our lot.

 

It is all we have to go on

That is, outside of God,

It is somewhat like the lotto

Until the numbers are called.

 

The present is our best bet,

The future is a no-show

And if indeed it comes around,

There is only today to show.

 

How it seems is exactly that

No matter our insistence,

Appearance is an approximation;

It’s not an exact science.

 

Take Longfellow’s timely advice:

Trust no future however pleasant,

However bright it may seem,

Seemingly so is just apparent.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

 

Death

 

I am intrigued about death

Of course, not my own,

I think about it most often

Especially when I am alone.

I think about it at night

Much more than in the day

And note even over Christians

It still holds sway.

I examine its prevalence

And it appears more often at night,

Your experience might be different

Mine doesn’t have to be right.

 

 

 

Death is distinct from dying

Let us not confuse the two

One you will never experience

But the other one you do.

I am not talking nonsense

Just think of what I have said,

One will never experience death

Surely not if he is dead.

Experiences end at death

Whether one is a Christian or not,

It is one hundred percent effective

In bringing this life to a stop.

We speculate about after

And that is the best we can do

But into the immediate afterlife

We are short on that preview.

The little that has been given

Causes much debate

And this indicates uncertainty

About the dead’s immediate state.

Dying is different from death

A person can know he is dying

And some in quest of a little more time

May even appear to be trying.

I am not intrigued with dying

And would rather not be conscious,

To die in my sleep is a good way to go

I consider that rather precious.

The challenge is for those that remain

Especially if they didn’t expect it,

What a peaceful way to pass away!

What a wonderful peaceful exit!

Stewart Russell © November 2019