KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 in preparation for World War II. It was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities.
With the whole world effected by this coronavirus—borders closing, cities & countries locking down, the stock market plummeting, businesses shuttering, people getting sick and dying—how on earth is it possible for us to keep calm?
When mass hysteria threatens to engulf the world, where can we find peace? Ancient words from Scripture (Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT) have a contemporary relevance, reminding us—
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
The Bible gives a recipe for peace in Philippians 4:6-7. It is not a command, for repressing anxiety drives it deeper into the subconscious and it may later be expressed openly in harmful ways. There’s a healthier and more helpful way to deal with our concerns. God promises that if we pray about everything—telling him what we need and thanking him for all He has done—we will experience peace that cannot be defined or explained, a peace that will keep us from sinking under our troubles.
If we depend on the ageless wisdom of Scripture, we can deal rightly with an uncertain future. This happens only when we have something more than the future and ourselves we care about.
Humanity has been trying for centuries to substitute faith in the future for faith in God, but the result has never made sense. It is a serious mistake to worship a future which is precarious, instead of God who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
The rise and fall of civilizations—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—is proof there is no future any make on earth that people with love of power cannot unmake.
To live for a spoilable tomorrow as the chief purpose of life is to spend our days fooling ourselves. It is far wiser to invest in treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20)—an unshakable, eternal future.
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise:
“Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable,
Let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
Hebrews 12:26-27 NLT
Until God brings heaven on earth to this troubled planet, by His grace let’s KEEP CALM.
Johnny R. Almond
Pastor, Hull’s Memorial Baptist Church
Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity
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