Keep calm and carry on

If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offences to rest. Ecclesiastes 10: 4 NIV

If the temper of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place [or show a resisting spirit]; for gentleness and calmness prevent or put a stop to great offenses. Ecclesiastes 10: 4 Amplified

I am sure you will have seen one of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, T shirts, mugs and so on that are prevalent everywhere nowadays. They and all the subsequent spin offs in the Keep Calm range are based on a Second World War Ministry of Information poster that was prepared in case of imminent invasion. Funnily enough these posters were never used and it was only because a book shop owner found one of the few remaining ones in 2000 and put it up in his shop that led to its current fame.

 This verse from Ecclesiastes could be wonderfully illustrated with a Keep Calm and Carry On poster.  The context of this verse is that of a king or ruler losing his temper with a courtier or servant who has not actually done anything wrong. The courtier is advised not to stamp out of the king’s presence in anger and offence but to stay where they are and keep calm. This we are assured will lay great offences to rest.

Few of us will be in this particular situation of serving an earthly king but the same principle can be applied to those who have some authority over us whether our boss at work or the leaders at church. Too often when we are grieved and offended by false accusation or just a misunderstanding, the first temptation is to storm out of the room or reply angrily to what is being said.

However, the same principle that the Teacher advises can be applied here. It is better to stay put and keep calm. Often that in itself will calm the whole situation down. Leaving in a huff inflames an already inflammatory situation.  Calmly explaining yourself if asked is fine but yelling and justifying oneself, does not help. In fact I think justifying yourself is often unnecessary. If the accusation or comment is false, the truth always comes out in time. God will always justify you and if you know that you have done nothing wrong, then you can rest in that assurance.  

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes, who was probably Solomon, would have had a kingly perspective on this and he knew what he was talking about.  Sometimes the pressure of kingship or leadership will lead to a king or leader speaking out inappropriately and maybe falsely maligning someone. He was not condoning it but showing the best way to deal with a situation like this.

Keeping calm, showing respect and carrying on shows great dignity on your part and you in turn will be respected.

 

Is life meaningless?

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labour.

Yet when I had surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve.

Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.    Ecclesiastes 2: 10 – 11

 There can be times when we look at our lives and wonder whether we have achieved anything worthwhile. The writer of Ecclesiastes, thought by many to be King Solomon, evaluated his life and despite all that he had achieved (and Solomon achieved more than anyone else I Kings 4: 29 - 34), he wrote that it was all meaningless. In fact he says, ‘for a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless (2:21).

 At some point in your life, you may realise you are not going to do some of the things that you thought you might do or even wanted to. These can be hard pills to swallow. Perhaps you have not got married, had children, got the promotion you expected. Perhaps an accident, disability, ill health, divorce or redundancy have stopped you achieving what you thought of as your heart’s desire. Nevertheless that does not mean your life has been meaningless or worhtwhile.

We can look at our life and draw some wrong conclusions. If we evaluate our lives by the world’s standards, very few of us will have any achievements to commend ourselves. The world only values the outwardly successful, famous or beautiful. However if we look at our lives from God’s perspective with an eternal mind set, things look very different. God values the faithful, trustworthy, honest, diligent, persevering, kind, loving, joyful, peaceful person. What matters most is not our achievements but our fruit. 

 Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy says of those people who see their life as a failure; much of the distress of these good people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them; that they are coming to the end of their present life, life ‘in the flesh’ is of little significance. What is of significance in the kind of person they have become. Circumstances and other people are not in control of an individual’s character or the life that lies endlessly before us in the kingdom of God.

For the Christian, this life is not all there is. This is just the start and we look forward to a life in eternity when all things will be restored. The best really is to come and we must not look at our life or anyone else’s and see it as meaningless or a failure. We have a wonderful future with God and we must always keep our eye on that truth for God has incredible things beyond our imagination here on earth ready for us when our earthly life finishes. Our life truly is going from glory to glory.