In The Serenity Prayer column, published the first Friday of each month in 2019, we’re studying this well-known prayer phrase by phrase and applying it to our lives today.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

Taking as Christ did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right…

Attitude matters.

Whether we trust that God will make all things right really doesn’t change what God is going to do. What God does is always right whether we trust Him or not. The lesson here is more about how we live in the process while we’re waiting.

Time passes the same.

When waiting for an answered prayer, a new job, a life season to change… we can either be stressed, angry and sick or peaceful, happy and healthy. Either way, the same amount of time will pass from the beginning of the wait to the completion. How I walk it out is up to me.

Simple but not easy.

This principle of trusting God seems so simple. We hear it a lot in Christian circles. But little is taught about how to actually live out this trusting time. The season I’ve been in for the last three years has been one of the hardest in my adult life. It’s been all about waiting for God to make something right out of something that was very wrong. I’ve struggled often with a poor attitude while watching my sweet husband be so positive. Different things are easier for different people.

How to trust.

When I think of trusting, I think of the childhood game where we would fall back into the arms of a trusted friend who would catch us. We knew our friend wouldn’t drop us or let us fall because we believed they cared for us. If we can believe that our girlfriend can love us so much to catch us, why can’t we believe that our God, our Heavenly Father, who loves us even more, will not only catch us when we fall, He will make the circumstances into which we fall be perfect for us! And hose circumstances will then help us rise higher.

Trust in the Lord completely,
and do not rely on your own opinions.
With all your heart rely on him to guide you,
and he will lead you in every decision you make.
Become intimate with him in whatever you do,
and he will lead you wherever you go. Don’t think for a moment that you know it all, for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion and avoid everything that’s wrong. Then you will find the healing refreshment your body and spirit long for. ~ Proverbs 3:5-8 (TPT)

Let’s not be shaken or disturbed about where we’re going, how we’ll get there or when we’ll arrive.

Fall back.

Trust God.

He has a perfect plan.

He is with us all the way.

Contemplate trusting God with this beautiful song by Bethel Music.

In The Serenity Prayer column each month we’re studying this well-known prayer phrase by phrase and applying it to our life today. These columns will be published the first Friday of each month in 2019.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

Taking as Christ did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it…

The Serenity Prayer is one of the most familiar prayers of all time. Although widely used around the world, it’s primarily known in the addiction recovery communities. While the entire prayer is asking God for help, I believe this particular portion (including last months section), is referring to our most painful moments in life.

Most of life doesn’t turn out the way we want. So we have two choices: to either accept life as it comes or not. This is where most addictions start. Because most of us can’t physically run away from our life, we will mentally or emotionally run away by abusing food, sex, drugs, alcohol, work, shopping, the Internet, social media, video games, etc…

The beginning of recovery step work starts with accepting that we can’t but with God we can. God knows what’s best for us. Some days we want what God wants, but yet we don’t.

We want to accept this painful situation, but how can we?

Scripture tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that lay ahead. Maybe this particular pain we’re going through holds a special blessing for us that will only come when we’ve made it to the other side of the struggle.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. ~ Hebrews 12:2

Just as Christ endured pain and suffering at the hands of people and situations, we too have struggles to endure.

Whether the pain we’re dealing with is from our own personal challenges, caused by other people or situations out of our control, we often ask… Why?

In times of painful struggles instead of asking why try reciting The Serenity Prayer. Another Scripture confession I like to use during troubled days is this verse below:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ~ Philippians 4:13