Praying With The Serenity Prayer To Accept Hardship As A Pathway To Peace

 ACCEPTING HARDSHIP AS A PATHWAY TO PEACE

Along with millions of others, I love the Serenity Prayer.  We’ve prayed it together several times right here.  In fact, as we begin today, let’s do that once again, shall we?

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.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

There are several lines in that prayer that immediately speak comfort and peace to me and then there’s that line:  accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; ; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it,   

Maybe like me you are wishing that bit was left out.  “hardship as a pathway to peace.”  Looking around us, could all the hardship this pandemic is bringing actually be a pathway to peace that God is calling us to walk?  I am grateful that God does do this journey with us each step of the way.

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. He [God] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Isaiah 40:29

Many of us have lived much of our lives trusting in our own smarts, the opportunities that came our way, and our ability to do something productive with the resources that we had.  We may have attended church and tried to live a good life or we may have hurtled off the path into substance abuse, pornography, gambling, food addictions or who knows what kind of difficult path.  It really doesn’t matter which way we walked if we were walking it on our own without God.  All roads without God lead to destruction – for some sooner and for all later.

In recovery circles we know that it often takes more pain on the outside of us than on the inside to help motivate us to seek the help of God and others.  When we did reach out for help, we found God there.  The same is true for all of us in our hard times.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet. So He guided them to their desired haven.  Psalm 107:28-30

Jesus faced hardship in his life on earth.  He was persecuted by the evil and sin that brought Him to die on the cross.  However, Jesus overcame death and rose to life again.  Jesus’ resurrection changes everything for us because we can now have this amazing power of God living in us, strengthening us to be overcomers as we courageously face painful challenges. 

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  1 John 4:4

As we face the adversity of worry, irritation, stress or anger, together with the God who cares for us, we will find that He is faithful in all His ways.  God gives us everything we need to get through the hardship and what a joy it is to experience the peace that awaits us on the other side. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Heavenly Father, We want to take You at Your word and bring everything to You today in prayer.  We bring our anxious thoughts, these hard times, our uncertainties about what lies ahead and we ask You to work both in us and in our circumstances.  These are times of hardship for all of us – in different ways and different degrees but these are hard times for everyone. Help us as the Serenity Prayer reminds us to accept hardship not because we love hardship, but to allow You to use this time in our lives and our coming closer to You for help, as a pathway to peace. 

This is a sinful and imperfect world and just as Jesus did we want to live here for all the days of life You give us, but not be bound by the circumstances around us.  As we read earlier, greater are You who are in us than the one who is in the world.  You are greater than the greatest threat to our safety and well-being and You love us dearly.

And so we want to surrender to Your will for us.  In every area where we know what to do we want to be obedient and active.  In every area where things are unclear we want to trust You to show us enough today to do today well and leave tomorrow in Your hands.   Amen