Serenity

Today’s midweek message will be a departure from my normal recap of the previous Sunday’s sermon.

Today, I wanted to look at the Serenity prayer again and see how we could apply it to our own life situations.

As I’ve highlighted at Beach Church, you won’t find the Serenity prayer in the Bible. 

A little background on it - It was written around 1940’s by Reinhold Niebuhr a highly educated theologian. 

It’s a timeliness and powerful prayer that is rooted in scripture and biblical truths.

I’m going to break down the prayer in this weekend’s sermon with all the supporting and confirming scripture to this timeless prayer.

The Serenity prayer can be applied in every area of our life, in every season, even in the things you might be facing as you read this.

Let’s start by reading the entire 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.

Living one day at a time; 

enjoying one moment at a time; 

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 

taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it; 

trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will; 

that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

forever in the next.”

The basic spirit-based concept of the Serenity prayer is that when we try to change things or people that we shouldn't, or can't, we invite chaos into our lives.

Let’s breakdown 3 Biblical truths in the Serenity prayer that we can:

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

As the prayer highlights, when life feels out of control, it’s easy to try to work harder at controlling everything and everyone around us! Some of us do the opposite and just throw our hands up and give up on the situation or person. Whichever extreme you go to, peace and serenity continues to move further from your life when trying to over control the situation.

Accepting and submitting to God’s control and plan for your life is the only way to find peace in situations you cannot control or change. We may not always know God’s plan, but we can let go of trying to orchestrate and manipulate events and people and let God work through us.

God promises a supernatural peace when we bring our worries and concerns to Him.

2. "the courage to change the things I can"

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to supply you with the courage to follow and act upon God’s plan for your life. Instead of fearfully ignoring hard decisions or running from what seems too difficult, we can call upon the power of God for courage to move forward into the full life He has planned for us. As we keep our eyes on God and stay connected to the vine, God’s courage will supernaturally pour into us.

3. "and the wisdom to know the difference."

As discussed in last week’s sermon Wisdom is a gift that God promises to give to those who connect to the vine. You can add to the growth in wisdom each day by spending time reading our operational handbook and communicating with God through prayer. God will tell you through the Holy Spirit and His Word, when to accept things and when to take courage to change them.

The Serenity prayer acknowledges that God is the ultimate source for wisdom.

Questions to ask yourself this week:

1. What situation in your life are you trying to control the outcome of? 

2. Are you willing today to lift it up to God? Thus, following our instructional guides directed from Mathew 11:28?

Take some time to ponder these questions today or this week. As, learning to discern what you can and cannot control will have a huge impact the serenity you desire for your life.

Pastor Rick