Category Archives: Obedience

Time to panic?

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Keep calm...Most of us are familiar with the poster, “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.” I first saw it in the home of Hans’ bride, Katy, when our family arrived in England for their wedding. It was 2007, and because of the kingly crown on the poster, I figured it was strictly British. The sentiment applied nicely as busy wedding preparations saw us sometimes becoming un-calm, though we did do well at carrying on.

Apparently that poster was created by the British government at the beginning of World War II. Officials wanted to be ready with inspiration, should mass air attacks occur in major cities. Although 800,000 posters were printed, few were circulated as the war intensified, mostly because authorities thought the message trivialized the gravity of the situation. After that, the posters all but disappeared.

Then in the year 2000, one of the originals was rediscovered in the bottom of a box of books. Today the slogan has grown into an international industry and is printed on everything from mugs and aprons to notebooks and food packaging.

Although the “keep calm” motto has been altered in all kinds of ways (Keep calm and drink wine, Keep spending and carry on shopping, etc.), the original idea is still a pretty good one. It’s even scriptural.

In Isaiah 7, the Almighty was speaking when he said, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart.” (v. 4) He was talking to a king in similar circumstances to World War II, telling him not to panic over what appeared to be certain defeat by a powerful army. God reassured him by saying, “Keep calm, because I’m controlling  things.”

But he didn’t just leave him hanging by telling him to stay calm without telling him how. He followed his instructions with letting the king know he’d have to do something, too: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (v. 9)

The British poster campaign was eventually considered a “misjudgment of the mood of the people.” But maybe that’s because they weren’t told how to stay calm. If mass air attacks in large cities were the order of the day, people couldn’t remain calm for long… unless of course God endowed them with the ability to do so.

He did that in the Isaiah passage and is willing to do it for us today. In Philippians we read, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (2:13) And it pleases him when we stay calm in a crisis, because it proves we’re trusting him for the outcome.

So, when circumstances tempt us to panic, we shouldn’t ask God for relief from the situation but for strength to stand firm in our faith all the way through. After that, keeping calm and carrying on should be no problem.

“You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security.” (Proverbs 3:25-26)

Travel Advice

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Every once-in-a-while I find myself driving through our old neighborhood in Illinois, a “country” suburb of half-acre lots with room for children to roam. Although I can’t freely turn into my old driveway as I did for nearly 30 years, I have pulled in next-door for visits with my good friend Becky.

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For 22 years we shared the same lot line and were friends from our first meeting at the swing set with our babies, to the farewells after our moving van pulled away. My husband died of cancer several months after we left the neighborhood, and 6 months after that, Becky’s husband passed away, also of cancer. (See “Hi, neighbor!”) Despite living on opposite sides of Lake Michigan now, we’ve been united in heart while sharing a call to widowhood.

The year after our men died, both of us did a great deal of traveling. It wasn’t so much planned as just what happened, and it wasn’t always easy. One day I received an email from Becky (written 3 years ago) while on a trip to Europe with some of her family. Because I believed her thoughts were Spirit-inspired, I saved it.

She wrote:

“I’m trying to develop the discipline it takes for me to travel with my faith. There are quite a few Scriptures that use the visual of putting on faith as a garment. Romans 13:14 says, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Colossians 3:12 says, ‘Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’”

Becky’s faith-discipline efforts began even before she left home: “My first faith-choice was packing my suitcase,” she wrote. “I had purchased a smaller, lightweight Bible for traveling, but it didn’t sit well in my heart to leave my beloved big Bible behind. The Holy Spirit reminded me that my make-up bag was just as big and heavy as my Bible, and I would never leave that behind! So in went my big Bible.”

She continued, writing from a hotel room in France: “It’s been tricky carving out prayer and meditation time, and time to read God’s Word, when it would be easier to wake up and jump right out to the streets of Paris! Traveling depletes me quickly, because I easily get distracted from my faith-routine. It’s actually scary how fast it happens away from home, in strange lands, surrounded by folks who may not yet share my faith.

“My choice for each day, though, is to clothe myself in his Word before venturing out sightseeing, because I know when we return, I’ll be depleted again, needing more time to rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Travel plans

Today Becky’s wise travel advice has been reverberating in my ears, since I bought a plane ticket to England to meet my soon-to-be-born grandbaby. And I want to remember that nothing I pack will be more important than putting in my faith-garments.

 

 

“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness.”  (Isaiah 61:10)

 

Without Wavering

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photo(6)Today I participated in our church’s biannual prayer vigil. By definition, a vigil is “a period of watchful attention.” It’s sometimes coupled with fasting or staying awake during normal sleep hours to focus on something special by guarding it, observing it, or praying over it. And today we were praying.

Those who wanted to participate signed up for a time slot and promised to pray then, either at the church or from another location. Throughout one day, the church and its current concerns would be continuously brought to God’s throne room.

Our church prayer team created a private atmosphere of tranquility for those who wanted to use it, complete with candles, a comfortable chair, a table, lamp, hymnal, Bible, and curtains drawn. The moments of people’s prayer times were set apart for just the Lord and them, yet we were all joining in one consecutive vigil much like links on a chain reaching from our prayer room to heaven.

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Pages of printed verses were made available, and one of the passages I appreciated today was from Romans 4:“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.” (20-21)

Abraham had an astounding faith that believed God would follow through with what he said. The promise this passage refers to is that his descendants would grow into a great nation, this when he was already old and had no children. Even more remarkable was that during this time when he believed God would come through but hadn’t seen it yet, right then Abraham’s faith “grew stronger.”

Extraordinary! And the reason? He was “fully convinced” God would keep his word.

Before I began to pray at the vigil, I asked myself a serious question. If I’m just as “fully convinced” as Abraham was, why do I sometimes “waver in believing?”

Once in a while after God does answer prayer in a measureable way, my faith gets a boost, but that’s after-the-fact. Abraham’s faith actually grew while he waited to see God act, literally waiting for decades.

As I thought about this, I saw the next phrase in Romans 4: “In this [continuing to believe against all odds], he brought glory to God.”

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Light bulb moment! Believing that God will do what he promises, whether we see it in our lifetime or not, actually brings glory to God. I was wrong when I thought believing without wavering was about my own will power. Instead it’s about God’s glory. Continuing to believe when there seems to be no hope at all is one sure way I can bring blessing to my Father.

So when I began to pray today, it was easy to blanket the requests with scriptural promises, believing without wavering if for no other reason than to bring glory to him.

“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping.” (Romans 4:18)