Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Good morning Zebras,

Today's verse is not a verse at all but a prayer written as part of a sermon in 1934 by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Until this morning I didn't know that. All I knew was that it was a nice prayer that had hung on the wall of our kitchen when I was a child which is often referred to as the "Serenity Prayer."

Lately I have been thinking a lot about that prayer so I was pleased to find out it was Biblical in origin. I thought it must be because what it is praying for are things that agree with Biblical principles.

God promises us wisdom in James 1:5, reassures us that He gives us peace in John 14:1, and He challenges us to have courage as we meditate on His word in Joshua 1:6-9.

The key of course is knowing God and meditating on and applying His Word.

Which would explain why, even though the prayer was on the wall, I grew up in a home where there was no peace, no courage and no wisdom. Because there was no God.

God's Word without an understanding of God can quickly turn into cute little sayings on dish towels along with "God helps those who help themselves." and Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," neither of which are from the Bible.

There are a lot of things in life I would like to change. Most of them are outside of my reach. In fact everything is out of my reach except for me.
A truly wise person realizes the only thing that they can change is themselves, and then only with the Holy Spirit's power, and confidently leaves everything else in the capable hands of God.

Love,
Jill