Ecclesiastes 8:1 (Poise and Joy)

I'm awed by the famous women of the former decades -- Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and the like.  They seem to radiate beauty and confidence and femininity in a way that makes me say, yeah, it's good to be a woman.  Or how about the stories of heroes who seem to just know what they should do in a moment of crisis and do it without a second thought?  All of these people possess one same, amiable quality: poise.

Poise is defined as 'a dignified, self-confident manner or steadiness.'  Don't you wish you could have a dignified, self-confident manner and steadiness no matter what comes your way?

Heavy, wall-to-wall rush hour traffic when you're already late for your cousin's surprise party?  No biggie, I've got poise.

Berating from your co-worker about the project you screwed up when he was out golfing with a client for the fifth time this week?  Just shruggin the shoulders, I've got poise.

One kid screaming in her high chair with pureed peas all over her face while the other one is clinging to your left ankle begging you not to make her take a nap, and then the dog poops on the floor?  Ain't no thing, I've got poise.

Or perhaps it's something even bigger: a diagnosis, a visit from the police, a pink slip as the bills are piling up.  How do we maintain poise in the midst of the life-altering moments?

Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.

The thing is, we don't want poise just for high-society's sake and looking put-together; rather, poise, for a Christian, is a sign of wisdom.

Do you have joy today?  Well, do you have a Bible in your hand?  The Word integrated into our life, and the Biblical wisdom it produces brings joy and poise, no matter the circumstances.

Wisdom brings poise because a person who has Biblical wisdom is assured of what is right.  They understand who they are, where they came from, where they are going, how their sin is and can be removed, and what the will of God is for their life.  There is no greater joy than to know the answers to these great life questions, and there is no other place to go for the answers than the Bible. 

My husband, Josh, used to make fun of me, but I hold to this: many times, you can tell if a person is a Christian just by looking at them.  

I'm not talking about the "I go to church with my wife because she makes me" kind of Christian (though good for you for going at all), but I'm talking about the kind of Christian who has asked God some tough questions in the midst of dark times and saw that God doesn't leave when we ask questions, who cried alone in her bed in the middle of the night only to be comforted by Scripture, who thinks often of Jesus throughout each day and tries to live for Him in obedience.  There is something about their faces.  It doesn't happen often, but I will run into them in a grocery store only to start talking later about church, or chat with them in the coffee line at a bookstore only to find them in the Christian book aisle a few minutes later, or hear an interview on the news of what kind thing someone did only to hear them reference Christ a few minutes later.  There is just a gentleness and tenderness in their eyes, a brightness.

This does not happen often, but it does happen.  And Josh believes me now after just having had this experience with a co-worker who he always thought was a nice, stand-up woman...turns out, she loves Jesus, too!  I'm telling you, there's a "brightness of their face" as these verses reference, and it's real.  It's hope.  It's truth.  It's a security in uncertain times.

Studying the Word gives wisdom, and wisdom will make you poised and full of joy.

As Clairee says in Steel Magnolias, "Smile!  It increases your face value!"

You don't need a face lift, my friends, just read Scripture!



Molly Monroe