Keeping Calm

Unless you've been living under a bucket for the past ten years, you've seen this poster before. 

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The British government printed it in 1939 as Hitler’s invasion of Poland simmered the world into a boil. The mantra on its stately red field with the crown as its header was intended to maintain a sense of peace and order in the event that London was bombed. Even in the midst of attack,  the British people, the monarchy, and the empire would remain so long as everyone kept their heads and pressed forward. The poster was never distributed, but went to collectors in the UK, unseen for decades. Since its rediscovery in 2000, it’s been printed on mugs, bumper stickers, notepads, and t-shirts. I’ve seen innumerable variations on the web, ranging from “Keep Calm and Have a Cookie” to “Keep Calm and Kill the Zombies.” Now, we are no longer under threat of air raids (thank you, God), but the concept is one that has struck a chord with modern consumers. Why? We humans are notoriously bad at keeping calm when under attack.

My 2014 started off like the Blitzkrieg. Remember last New Year’s post where I was all giddy because I had exciting plans, a new church, and some certainty about where God was leading me? That was 2013. Within the first week of this New Year, I was bombarded with new spiritual battles, brilliant blessings, difficult issues with people I love, and possible life changes on the horizon. I went from “I can’t wait to see what God will do” to “Holy crud, this is all happening at once.” Falling into my first instinct, I did not keep calm. I did try to contain and control. If people around me were hurting, I needed to fix the problem rather than let God work through the hurt to reveal His healing and glory. If He had blessings coming down the road, I needed to run ahead and usher them in because God obviously needs my help running my life and the known universe. My career, my schedule, my relationships all had to be managed with the frantic skill of a caffeinated kindergartner playing Whack-A-Mole. If I seemed frazzled for the first three weeks of January, 2014, it was because I was not keeping calm, and I couldn’t carry on.

What does it look like for people of God to keep calm? Contrary to the images the world has been fed for two thousand years, Christians don’t live in a perpetual perfect state of peace, contentment, or spiritual euphoria. Life happens and we freak out, some more than others (hi there!). That’s what we tend to do, but what are we supposed to do? When I was in London this past summer, I spent a lot of time in the evenings journaling and praying about God’s will for my life. One evening, I got this really clear and powerful image of God cupping my open hands in His, palms up but not empty as God’s blessings overflowed. As soon as I start to curl my fingers around the good things in my hands, the anxiety and fear became overwhelming. I would feel jealousy if someone wanted to take my blessings or if God said I had to share them. If I didn't see my dreams in my grasp, I'd get angry, or I’d feel panic that God might ask me to give up something good in exchange for His better. Like I said, I sometimes think like a kindergartner. God left me with a choice: trust Him with open hands, or spend my life wrestling with Him for everything I think I need so desperately. Acts 20:24 says "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." 

Welcome to the battle. Like a city anticipating the mortars to drop, I know my life will have blessings and tragedies. God says  in John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." God gives us what He wills, and none of it truly belongs to us.

The kingdom will remain, the Monarchy will hold, and the people of God will not be moved because the war is already over. The only thing we control is how we respond when the bombs start falling.