Courage to Change the Things That Should be Changed

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

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.

Those who attend any Celebrate Recovery meeting or traditional 12 step meeting know that the Serenity Prayer is often said together as a group. If you want to read about the history behind this prayer, check out this blog post  http://recoveryboxapp.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-serenity-prayer-history-behind-it.html

I'm not going to say exactly what you should feel or think when you pray this prayer because your circumstance are different than mine - and prayers are personal.  But yesterday when I had my cup of apple cider and I saw the "Courage Mug"  (see yesterday's post if you are not up to speed) it reminded me of this prayer. 

"Courage to change the things that should be changed." The first time I ever read this prayer was at my grandmother's house. I didn't understand what it meant then being only 12 years old. Later in life I came to understand that my grandmother was an alcoholic and struggled a lot..perhaps that's why she had the prayer in her house. It's a shame because I can't ask her  what the prayer meant to her because she suffers from Alzheimers. So I can only speculate.

The line I find intriguing especially as someone who wants to solve everyone's problems is "the Wisdom to distingush one from another".  That's what I need to work on. I have got to figure out what is mine to change and what is mine to leave for others. Perhaps it sounds so easy but not for someone who deals with CoDepenedency. 

So today, there is no verse but rather I pray the Serenity Prayer and ask for the wisdom to know the difference.

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Your Wisdom and Your Knowledge Delude You

 Isaiah 47:10, “your wisdom and your knowledge , they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one be sides me”.

“I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. -Bill Cosby

Today’s author for my personal devotions opened with a great quote that I can relate to because I’ve tried to do that exact thing and failed - miserably. And I loved the quote just because I love Bill Cosby and his family-centric attitude towards life.

But honestly, it’s true, if I try to be everything to everyone else not only do I set myself up to disappoint others but also disappoint myself - which is what I look at more. The author basically states that we become more of a drain to others rather than an asset because we are spread too thin and don’t bring that energy and creativity to the table. And she’s right. Wish I had learned that the easy way.

Those with CoDependency I am sure find this very hard to deal with because there is that desire to feel the need to be needed all the time. And it’s extremely unhealthy.

Yes there are times when we need to be the person to step in an be the asset but we need to be listening to God and hearing Him tell us this rather than us making this choice on our own.

The author’s verse today is from Isaiah 47:10, “your wisdom and your knowledge , they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one be sides me”.

Whoa— I don’t ever want to say that. I want God to fill my heart and be my path. So I guess the lesson I need to learn is to not think life is not all centered around me - I must center around God and he will direct my feet. I want to be the asset he uses but only to be used where He wants and only in his timing.

It’s not something I’ll be perfect at right away because I know for me I go in cycles with this CoDependency addiction, but it’s something I’m determined to break because He did not make me this way. And as I’ve let go, I am beginning to get a huge sense of balance in my life…which is what God wants us to have.

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