Accepting What We Cannot Change

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.

-Reinhold Niebuhr

Often we hear of events that happen which leave people with a bad feeling. We wonder why they or even we have to experience these traumas. When we choose to follow Christ and we see evil inflicted on those who share our faith, we wonder why.

We live in a fallen world. Crime rates soar in spite of having well-trained police forces.

As I watch the crime dramas on television, I see crimes committed that society didn’t

know about when I was a child. People didn’t lock their doors. My parents didn’t even lock up when we went away, until we came home one night and found things missing. The television which normally sat on a heavy wrought iron stand was in the floor as we entered through the front door.

Present day, we can’t read the paper or listen to the news without hearing of crimes involving drugs, unspeakable acts against women and children, and man’s inhumanity to man. Recently, a man shot another man a couple of blocks from where a friend of mine lives. When I told my husband about our city having a shooting, his answer was, “Another one?” I took it to mean “We have them all the time.”

God allows events to happen to us in order to draw us closer to Him. We experience certain circumstances in our lives that we have to work through with God’s help. When we realize someone or a happening in our daily walk has hurt us, all we can do is seek His guidance.

When we realize we have caught a cold or the current ‘bug’ going around, we have to alter our habits and activities in order to care for ourselves. That usually means we take on more fluids to flush out the germs. We may or may not need to go to the doctor to receive help in getting well. We can not ignore the signs. While we exercise habits to keep these illnesses away, sometimes they do get through our lines of defense.

Learning to accept what comes our way is a result of Christian growth and maturity. I especially like the ending of the Serenity Prayer. Sometimes, things happen we can change. We may not want to because the change requires work or establishing new habits on our part. We do have to exercise wisdom to discern whether we can change or accept the situation. There are times the thing that needs to change is our heart.

I remember a time when I cried out for God to give me His wisdom. My grandmother, a nursing home resident, had to go to the ER. There was a mix up as to which hospital she was to go to. The nurse on duty made arrangements for transportation to the facility across town. Her new doctor saw his patients at the hospital practically next door. My mother and her husband were on vacation. I was ‘in charge’ of seeing to Grandma’s needs. I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to call them home? Was I supposed to handle this on my own and then tell them about it when they called? After I cried out to God, I went over to the hospital and checked in on her. She told me she had a spell of some sort earlier. A couple from our church visited her while she had this sensation. I came straight home and called my mother and told her what had happened. God did answer my prayer. I am thankful He did.