Serenity Prayer – The First Three Lines . . .

When I ask people if they know the entire Serenity Prayer, I usually get a confused look in response. “There’s more to it?” they ask. There sure is. The Serenity Prayer actually contains nine lines. We will look at the first three lines today, and the rest of the prayer next time.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change . . .

Who among us does not want serenity? I thought I did. It turned out that I was actually more accustomed to chaos than serenity. I did not like the chaos, but I was used to it. I thought I could achieve serenity by trying to engineer the circumstances and people in my life so I could end up with what I wanted. If I were happy, surely everyone else would be, right? Wrong. This approach only led to more chaos.

Most of my life I had the serenity prayer backwards. I accepted things that were my responsibility to change, and fought hard to change the people around me, which was not my responsibility (nor was it even possible.) This was not a wise way to live. I had to stop blaming myself for things that were not my fault and take responsibility for the 227 extra pounds on my body, along with its side effects of depression, diabetes, and limited mobility.

The courage to change the things I can . . .

Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing it anyway, even if my hands are shaking and my stomach is in my throat. I believed I was courageous, only to find out that when it came to overcoming my past, I accepted that I was a mess and did not try to change. When I accepted responsibility for the mess I was in, asked God for courage to change, and began to do the work required, I began to step out of my mess into a new life.

And the wisdom to know the difference.

The only way out of confusion is to ask God for wisdom. I rely often on God’s promise found in James 1:5 (NIV): “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” When I ask God for wisdom, I always receive it. I become aware of what I need to work on and the things of which I need to let go.

Praying the first three lines of this prayer changed my life. I am now convinced that no amount of effort could have changed my past or the people in it. When I accept the things and people I cannot change, I have peace. When I work hard to change the things I can, change happens. When I look to God for wisdom, He always provides it. And this is just the first three lines . . .

Who? Me? Do you need serenity? Courage? Wisdom?

One More Step: Our attempts to create serenity, courage, and wisdom apart from God will only create more chaos, fear and indecision. Let’s stop and pray the first three lines of the serenity prayer right now: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.