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.
Too often we take the easy way out, give up and “accept” things as they are because we don’t have enough confidence in ourselves to even try to change things. We know we are on this easy path when all we are concerned about are symptoms. Treating symptoms is a way of avoiding the real problem. Confronting the problem might require thinking outside the box, leaving our comfort zone, admitting change is possible.
Working on the real problem, and expecting to come up with a solution, takes courage. Courage is a foreign concept in our modern world. We think that courage only exists on a battlefield and is reserved for those who face life and death situations. In reality all of life is a battlefield, and many of the decisions we make have far reaching life consequences. Courage isn’t a lack of fear, but rather a decision to act in spite of one’s fear.
As we seek and apply wisdom we will see change in our lives and the lives of others. Remember the story of a man who tried to change the world only to be frustrated in his endeavors, so he began to focus on changing his nation. Again he met with little success and decided to change his town. When that didn’t work he sought to change his family. Near the end of his life he realized that had he focused his efforts on changing himself, he would have had a positive influence on his family and together they could have changed their town. with the help of the town the nation could have been changed and the nation would have affected the world.
God has promised that if we lack wisdom and ask, He will give us the wisdom we need. With God’s help, a better ending of the serenity prayer might be … and the wisdom to make a difference.
