by Lenore Buth
Maybe you've noticed this phrase here and there on gift shop plaques and posters.
The slogan traces back to the early days of World War II. In 1939, the British Government ordered the printing of a series of posters, each one aimed at keeping up morale at home.
At the time everyone assumed the Nazi invasion of Great Britain was sure to come. Many London parents, desperate to keep their children safe, sent them to live with rural families for the duration.
Then the Blitz actually began. For months the Nazis rained bombs on London and other sites. Night after night bombs and mortars boomed overhead and all around. Countless British citizens slept--or tried to sleep--in bomb shelters and in the Underground (subway) tunnels.
Every morning they dragged themselves up to the streets and surveyed the destruction from the previous night's air raids. Then they picked their way through the rubble and lived out that slogan: Keep Calm and Carry On as best they could.
Military experts never could explain why Hitler failed to seize his advantage and put his troops into this severely weakened nation. Brits who believed in God had an explanation: "It is by His grace that we were spared."
They knew—or learned by experience—the truth of verses like Psalm 34:7-8:
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Those verses are just as true for you and me today.
If we look back on our own lives each of us can find times in our lives when things "worked out," but we couldn't explain how or why.
Our bottom line is the same as the Brits’. It is by God’s grace and goodness that we survive, that we have strength to go on when we’re feeling weak and fearful and discouraged.
God’s goodness and rich blessings come to us because we believe in Jesus, his Son, as our Savior, NOT because we are such good people or because we live such good lives.
Some people say, “It’s just a lucky coincidence the way it worked out.”
There are no "coincidences" with our loving God. Remember Romans 8:28?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Did you catch that? ALL things.
The goods. The bads. The in-between days.
The growing and exciting times. The ho-hum times that go on and on.
The will-this-never-end periods. The how-did-it-all-go-by-so-fast years.
ALL of it.
Whatever comes, God loves us. HE will work all things together for our good. In His time. In His way.
Even if it seems that right now nothing in our life makes sense.
All He asks of us is that we keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep trusting and carry on.
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 NLT
Through whatever comes we remind ourselves who God is and that Jesus Christ conquered sin, death and the devil by his resurrection from the dead. That’s what matters most.
To counter scary headlines and statistics, we need some ammunition, some promises from God that will drown out the constant drone of infighting and bad news all around us. Try these for starters.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
John 14:1 ESV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:9a ESV
No matter what comes, God still holds the world—and us—in the palm of His loving hand.
When we plant that truth front-and-center in our minds we can Keep Calm and Carry On through whatever comes.
Lenore Buth is glad to be part of the St. Matthew family and appreciates all the love and support. She has been writing for many years, including newspaper and magazine articles, as well as several books and some study materials for Concordia Publishing House.
She writes a weekly blog post and has kept it going since the summer of 2008. You can check it out at www.awomansview.typepad.com