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Grant us the Serenity
This is a beautiful prayer and one I really like to include in my morning. I think if everyone prayed this on a daily basis and really took it to heart, our world would be a wonderfully different place.
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.
Amen.
–Reinhold Niebuhr
John 3:30. That’s what this is all about.
Review: Audrey Assad “The House You’re Building” album.
A Live WTL Ministries review of Audrey Assad’s album “The House You’re Building”.
enjoy!
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www.audreyassad.com
“And just a simple smile is the beginning of peace.” -Mother Teresa
So today I went running in the park. It was a lovely afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze. Rather picturesque.
I was very excited to be out on the trails instead of in my neighborhood and I was determined to make the best out of my time there. But, about 2 miles into my run, I got this horrible headache. Like, almost as bad as the post-concussion ones I had been having a few months ago. I tried to push through it but ended up just making things worse. So, I took my iPod headphones out, took a few deep breaths, and started walking back to the trailhead.
Whenever I run I am usually very intent on what I am doing and where I am that I pay little attention to the people around me. I’m either listening to music or saying a rosary or just pondering life, and I don’t usually take the time to say hi to everybody I pass.
So on the way home today I was going a lot slower than usual because I didn’t feel great and I couldn’t really stand to listen to music since my head was pounding so much. So I just walked along, enjoyed the nature, and smiled to be friendly to everyone I passed.
Well, I walked by this older lady who was by herself on the trail, and after I passed her she turned around and stopped me.
“Sweetheart, I just want to say thank you.”
So of course, I was a little startled. Creepy old lady touching me….like what?
“For what?”
“Honey, I haven’t had someone look me in the eyes or smile at me in weeks. It’s just so good to know that there are people who care to share their happiness.”
It just really struck me the difference that a single smile can make.
And the way that God uses the little things in our lives to bring joy into others. What I thought of was just a killer headache and a messed up run became an opportunity to share the joy that Christ brings to my life with someone who felt lonely.
That encounter wouldn’t have happened without the headache and the slowing down.
And I just need to remember that God’s picture is so much bigger than mine.
So today…
Think about the things in your life that you still hold on to. The things that you aren’t quite willing to give up control of. The things you complain about, the things you worry about.
School stress. Work stress. Family stress. Whatever..
If we truly believe that our God loves us and that He is the God of this universe, it is not worth our time to put our energy into worrying about these things.
That’s wasted energy.
Abandon those things into the arms of your Creator and realize, just for a second, that you can really do nothing without Christ.
Without those burdens weighing upon your heart, there’s suddenly room for a little more love.
Jesus loves you so much(:
“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” -G.K. Chesterton
For some of us, the phrase “you can do anything you set your mind to” has been ingrained into us since day one. For others, it’s been more of a “you’re not really useful for anything” kind of vibe.
Either way, they both present flawed messages and unrealistic expectations. Let’s start with the first.
You can do anything you set your mind to.
Not exactly. Phillipians 4:13 is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Don’t forget that second clause there. Through Christ who strengthens me…
I think that’s the part so many of us forget so many times.
Yes, we can do all things. Nothing’s impossible. But we HAVE to trust in God and place our love and our effort completely in Him.
We are not strong enough to do anything on our own. We would not survive a day, a minute, a second without Christ….end of story.
That’s why God isn’t all smiley-happy when we decide that we’re going to take matters into our hands.
He didn’t approve of Abraham having a kid with Hagar just because he wasn’t feeling chill with God’s timing. He didn’t approve of the Pharisees praying all loud and whatnot in the streets just because they wanted to look holy.
God requires of us a dependence and a trust. It is from Him that everything comes. Every gift, every blessing, every day. We can love what God has given us, but let us not become prideful of it.
The world is not about us. It’s about Him. And the Power and Glory and Mercy of His incredible Love.
Then there’s the second thought.
You’re worthless. You can’t do anything.
Again, fatally flawed.
Go back to Philippians 4:13. You can do ALL THINGS through Christ. Whether its getting over an addiction, starting a new chapter of life, or finishing a race, YOU CAN with God.
Not on your own, not in isolation, with Christ.
America (the whole world really) has a big problem with self esteem. Everybody’s all “Oh, me. I’m so ugly. I hate myself so much yadayadayada.”
And what does that come from? An identity crisis.
We have forgotten, as a people, as Christians, who we are. We have isolated ourselves. We are the daughters and sons of the King, for crying out loud! God made us fearfully and wonderfully. And it’s God. He does. not. make. junk.
So the world tells us that we’re not perfect? That’s our cross to bear. And if the cross we bear is as small as simply reminding ourselves that we belong to Christ, we can truly count that as a blessing. We could be starving, orphans, slaves. We so desperately need perspective.
Let me clear up one thing though: I know it isn’t realistic to just say, “We’re all beautiful. Yay us.” Nobody is really going to believe it. Most girls wake up in the morning and the first thing going through their mind when they look in the mirror is NOT “Oh hey. I’m so beautiful. Why? Cause God made me like that.”
Not at all.
But when we truly find our identity and not just our appearance in God, we find that our lives become so, so much more than just the self we see in the mirror. True beauty comes from within. Cliche, but so hard to grasp.
You CAN do all things through Him who gives you strength.
Hmm well just my ramblings for the day.
I’m reading some Chesterton work right now and falling.in.love with it. Like for real. Chesterton is quite amazing.
I have a lot more I want to write about today but I want to think about it and pray about it some more before I write.
Anyways I love you all <3.
Remember what’s truly important today.
And remember that He loves you.
Faith in God also means faith in His timing.
What does it mean to have complete, total trust in Christ?
A lot.
If you look at what Paul writes when he is talking to the Romans, he makes it clear that God carries things out in His time, and everything that happens has a purpose to it.
Romans 8:28 says that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God truly can take the broken things in our lives and turn them into the beautiful things. However, this requires trust. We have the free will to choose to ignore God and try to work things out on our own. Trust me, I have done this plenty of times. (p.s. it doesn’t work….)
We also have another option: to place our trust in God. Now, this is a lot easier said than done. It’s easy, in my opinion, to say “I’m giving my life to God. Here we go. I’m open to your will. Do whatever you want.”
That’s the easy part.
Most pastors and priests go on and on about that we should be open to following God’s will in our lives. What often goes unspoken of is the actual following of this. We know that we should follow God and seek His plan, but we leave it at that: just a good idea.
Christ didn’t come into the world to tell us that Christianity was a good idea. He didn’t just pop by earth to ask us to go out and let everyone know that He made sense.
He came to love, to save, to redeem. And he left us with the command to spread His love and His church.
In the Gospel of Matthew we see Jesus’s command to ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…’ (Matthew 28:19)
It’s not a cutesy idea to make friends and be a good person and have a “successful life”. It was a call to something radical, something different, something actually kind of crazy. He asked those apostles to go, leave their families, place their trust entirely in Him, and live out faith.
Our God is unchanging. He desires the same of us today. We have watered down what it really means to be a Christian just to gain some popularity as a people. But has that left us with a bigger, stronger church? Not exactly. It has left many people with lukewarm faith and a longing for something more.
So what do we do about that? We have to be a witness not just to the name “Christian”, but to the life Christ leads us to.
God is creating His masterpiece of the world. We are each but a brushstroke in this work. But, without that stroke and beauty of our life, the masterpiece would not be complete.
Jeremiah went through this…God told Him that He had some pretty awesome plans in store for him. He was going to prosper and have great life (Jeremiah 29:11). BUT, did that come immediately? No. Jeremiah had to wait 70 years for God’s promise to play out.
Abraham was the same way…God promised him a son. When that didn’t happen as fast as Abraham wanted, he tried to take it into his own hands by having a son with the maid Hagar. God later blessed his wife Sarah with the birth of Isaac, but the point is that Abraham didn’t have enough trust to wait for God’s plans to play out.
I think a lot of us expect that as soon as we call ourselves open to God’s will, He is going to start doing just spectacular and great things with our lives. The thing is, sometimes the spectacular and incredible things that He will do are in the most simple and mundane things of life. He takes time to form our hearts. Faith in God means faith in His timing.
We have to look beyond ourselves and the immediate concerns of our life and remember that the world isn’t about us. There’s no need to worry or stress out about the unimportant things. We have no control over them. God has a plan, He is creating a masterpiece.
Just trust.
I’ll leave you with a prayer I can’t make it through an hour without saying. It’s incredibly short but says so much.
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.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths.
Proverbs 3, 5-6