accepting

What is that line from the serenity prayer?  "Accepting the things that I cannot change."

I really don't like the painful things that I am powerless to change.  I wish I could change them.  It is easy to get lost in the struggle of trying to fix that which I cannot fix. 

Sometimes Christians think that if they pray hard enough, or if they get enough people praying, that anything will be fixed.  Well, I am all for prayer, but in the world that I live in, honest people will admit to you that sometimes, things don't go the way that they want them to go, no matter how much they pray.

Jesus offered an interesting prayer, it includes a request and an acceptance.  "Lord, let this cup pass from me, but if not, then not my will but Yours be done."  Sometimes true spirituality is accepting that which we are powerless to change.  To learn to find the joy in these times is a great gift.  I find that I am often on a pretty serious search for this kind of joy.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.