The Serenity to Accept the Things I cannot Change

For years I’ve struggled with personal demons that haunt the back of my mind.  Who doesn’t?  And all those years I’ve prayed for change, prayed for God to kill those demons in me, prayed for transformation.  I’ve fought, and fought, and fought to change myself to no avail.

Through it all the Serenity Prayer has always brought me strength.  I pray it as, “Lord Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  I think there’s more to it, but that’s the part I pray.  Sadly, I’ve prayed it till it has become rote.  Then, some few months back, I stopped and asked myself, “What is it I cannot change?” It hit me.   

I cannot change me.  I cannot change what tempts me.  Then I asked, “What, then, can I change?”  I realized I can change my response to temptation in THIS moment.  I can say “NO” in THIS moment.  I can flee temptation in THIS moment.  Jesus gives me at least that much.  He doesn’t always give me the power to change instantly and permanently, but He does give me the power to say no in the moment. 

That is what I Corinthians 10:13 really means when it says,

13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Cor 10:13 (NLT)

And each time I make that choice, each time I reach for His Spirit for that power, each time I draw closer to Him, He changes me.