Let’s journey back between 8,000 to 15,000 years! Bring your archeological gear! Bring a compass, magnifying glass, binoculars, boots, hat, and a huge ham & cheese sandwich. You might want to bring one for yourself too!
So, getting out of the time machine we’re feeling a bit cramped, but that’s ok. Tuning in to what folks listened to during this period in time, I noticed right away several individuals carrying their solar-powered or hand-cranked transistor radios. I hear someone playing Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison). Over in the distance the mountains are echoing Good Morning Starshine (Oliver). Some other songs blasting in the distance are Sunshine Superman (Donovan) by an ecstatic listener, while a somewhat depressed man strums Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers) on his Fender guitar. All in all, these people seem obsessed with sunshine songs. I notice a woman swaying to John Denver’s Sunshine on My Shoulders as she hangs her laundry on the clothesline. Suddenly, though, she swears a raindrop just tapped her, not from below, but from the skies! Surrounding men laugh at her saying she’s sniffed too much detergent to know what’s going on! Meanwhile, they break into a 5-part harmony and sing B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head-doo-do-wop, doo-do-wop as they snap their fingers away laughing at the detergent joke. Others, join in with Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (the Beatles). What a blast they were having!
Suddenly, someone picks up a classic guitar and strums up I Wanna Go Outside (In the Rain) by the Dramatics. Obviously, the sunshine mood, as well as the climate is changing. As the days go on, more and more the sunshine songs are getting replaced by songs about rain.
As we journey across the land, someone’s singing, It’s A Rainy Night in Georgia..."and it feels like it’s raining all over the world…” The message is finally sinking in. After 30 days of drips, drops, and deluge, people are finally seeking shelter. The song at the number one position is now, Credence Clearwater’s, original Have You Ever Seen the Rain…“coming down on a sunny day?” Suddenly, people are loving the lyrics … “Long as I remember…”
Some, have caught on to the fact that all this rain is a result of what Noah has been telling them for over a hundred years: A flood is coming from above. But, as tends to be the case, people have been laughing at him and mocking him and his kids for just as long. I mean, who’s ever seen a huge boat, let alone one built on dry land where nothing but sunshine pierces the skies for centuries? They believe the man is a nutcase. Well, their number one hit is about to be replaced across the country and across the globe by a more factual incident. The new hit is now: Who’ll Stop the Rain (Credence Clearwater). As people clutch their radios and boom boxes, they can relate to the lines, “Still the rain kept pouring, falling on my ears, And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain?”
Not only was that the last number 1 hit, it was the last song with lyrics ever played. You see, the fountains of the deep were broken (the irrigation system God had set up to water the earth). Up gushed millions of gallons of water throughout the land. According to some Creationists, the water canopy God had built around the planet to keep man from noticing and worshipping the stars and heavenly hosts, burst sending billions of gallons of water everywhere around the world. As people continued to mock and ridicule Noah, volcanoes erupted spewing new-water upon the land.
Soon there were but a few people left upon the planet. Down they went, drowning in their own beliefs-in their own disbeliefs that a “Loving God” could do such a thing. Yet, the ark was there-all million square feet of it. It was empty of human life, but for the 8 people inside. In the backdrop, Wipeout (Surfaris) softly played as there was no one left to turn off the radio….because not a dry tear was left in all the land.
Just as it was back then, God has been warning us of His return. Not for 100 years or 105, or 120 years, but for thousands and thousands of years, (over 2000 years just since Jesus’ death). Yet, the Bible says in 2Peter 3:5: “This they willfully ignore…”
At 15, I asked my mom if there would be another flood. “No” she said. “That’s why we have a rainbow in the sky, as His promise that it won’t happen again.” I was glad to hear that! “Next time, she said, the earth will be destroyed by fire.” “What? Why?!” I asked. She told me that mankind was so evil, that God determined that would be the best punishment. “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men”(2Peter 3:7).
I guess it’s time to pack our gear and go back to our world and revisit God’s Word. That brings to mind James Taylor’s song, Fire and Rain. Visiting the past can be scary, but it can also help us see where we’re headed.
“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:38,39).
God Bless,
Sam
Finding Laughter In Difficult Times
My life experiences in the good times and in very difficult times will hopefully inspire, encourage, and motivate others to take time to laugh, reflect, and seek God when difficulties in life arise.