We’ve all seen the T-shirts, “Stay Calm and Keep On _____”. For teachers it says keep on teaching, for nurses keep on nursing, well, you get the idea. For the most part it’s pretty good advice. Panic and anxiety usually don’t make things any better and often makes them worse. But as humans we usually want to know why or how. Why should I stay calm or how can I stay calm? For Christians both answers are found in our relationship to God. Why stay calm, because God is in control. How can I stay calm - by trusting that he is in control.
When Paul was talking to the smart people in Athens at the statue to the Unknown God he wanted to tell them about this God that to them was unknown, but he knew very well. You can read about it in Acts 17. Paul made the point that this God couldn’t simply live in a temple or need people to do things for him. He is the one who made everything and everyone. It is in him and through him that we live and move and have our being. This Unknown God was in reality the only God and we owed everything to him. Paul over and over in his life demonstrated what it meant to stay calm and keep on. For Paul that usually meant keep on preaching the gospel. Since God was greater than any difficulty he would face it just made sense to keep on keeping on.
Worry and anxiety rob us of calm, but they also zap our strength and take away our resolve. Trusting God is not just about not worrying, it’s also about pressing on. Don’t let life get in the way of what God has in store for you. Satan wants nothing more than for God’s people to be sidelined and discouraged, that leads to us being ineffective and at worst to be a reason for others to doubt God. That’s not to say I have to walk around with a silly smile on my face all the time. But in the midst of the trial or storm I can stay calm and keep on believing.
So stay calm and keep on believing!
Don
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