Serenity prayer – by Reinhold Niebuhr

Every week we read the serenity prayer, but has it become rote?  Do we say it just to say it, or do we still understand and consider what it is really saying?  Tonight, we are going to take a little break from the spiritual inventory and consider the Serenity Prayer.

First of all, we need to understand what serenity is, from a Biblical perspective.  Serenity could be mean “tranquility,” like when you imagine a quiet meadow or brook and get relaxed in that moment.  But that kind of serenity / tranquility is not in the Bible, not as a method for coping or recovering.  Maybe as a way of praising God, like when we consider the works of His hands and find peace in knowing that the God we love and serve is the mighty Creator of all things.  I believe a more Biblical understanding of serenity is “contentment.” It is peace amid chaos.  Psalm 23 says, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Your rod and staff comfort me.”  That is Biblical contentment!  As is Philippians 4:11-12. “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”  See also 1 Tim 6:6-10 and Hebrews 13:5-6.

That’s what we need, peace and contentment in the midst of the trials and struggles of life, not some fleeting image of a quiet meadow to make us happy.  Now, lets consider the words of this famous prayer.

Serenity and change

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…”
What can’t we change?  Lots of things, most everything in fact.  We certainly can’t change another person’s actions or attitudes.  What else can’t you change?

“…the courage to change the things I can…”

What can I change?  Mostly the actions that I take.  How I spend my time, with the Body of Christ or with idols.  What else do you think you can change?

"…and the wisdom to know the difference…”

How do we really know what we can and cannot change?  We need God’s wisdom.  How do we get God’s wisdom?  It only comes from God thru His Word and His Church (1 Corinthians 1:18-3:3).

Dealing with life

“…living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time…”
Read James 4:13-17.  Life is a vapor, we don’t know if we’ll survive tomorrow so it is better to focus on God’s will, not ours.  What are some things God tells us in His Word are His Will?  Well, believing in the name of Jesus, renewing our minds, and fulfilling our part in the Body of Christ.

“…accepting hardship as a pathway to peace…”

Now read James 1:2-3 and 1 Peter 1:3-9.  Some trials and hardships we bring on ourselves due to sin.  Some trials and hardships God brings to us as a purifying fire.  Still others God permits so that we learn to trust Him and lean upon His strength.  This is a key phrase that we just don’t want to accept.  We want zero pain, zero difficulty, but that isn’t how life works.  Instead, God uses hardship in this short life we have to prepare and strengthen us, all along teaching us to trust Him. 

“…taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it…”

Taking the world is the way it is means understanding that people are enslaved to sin, immersed in hurts and habits.  Without Christ, that’s who we are.  He came to the world, not to eliminate those things yet, but to give victory over sin and death to those who believe in Him.  He came to redeem us…it is us He changes, not the world.  We must learn to live in this world without being corrupted by it.  Read 1 Cor 5:9-11.  God doesn’t save us and take us out of this world.  He leaves us here and purifies us despite the filth of the world, as a witness of Him and His healing power.

Trusting Him

“…trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your Will…”
We already mentioned some things that we know are God’s Will.  We need to understand that “all things right” does not mean “easy life.”  It means “all things working together for the good of those who love Him,” including the hardships.  That will be true IF you surrender to His Will.

“…so that I may be reasonable happy in this life…”

1 Thessalonians 2:19 says, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?”  God gives His children happiness, but not the kind that comes according to our selfish and sinful desires!  What does the Bible say gives a believer happiness?...Doing the will of God, seeing others come to faith and grow in faith, and doing our part of the Body of Christ, that is the Church.  If we are not doing our God-given part in the Body of Christ we will not be happy and will become discouraged, once discouraged, we will be very susceptible to returning to what used to make us “happy,” those empty hurts and habits.

“…and supremely happy with You in the next.”

That is when the hurts and habits, pain and trials end for good.  In the mean time, He guides, comforts, strengthens, and loves His children.