Week 9 - Day 6 - Living In Serenity.
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Lets begin by reading the Serenity Prayer again.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. 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.
In Jesus name. Amen.”
We are now in the definition of happy stage of the prayer.
Is it ok to be reasonably happy? Is it possible that reasonable happiness is all that is possible given that we live in an imperfect world and we are taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is and not as I would have it?
Does the relentless search for complete happiness prevent us from being as happy as is possible in the here and now; in the perfect present?
God gives us an abundance of what we need without necessarily giving us what we want. He knows that often, what we want is not really what we need, in a world where many of us suffer from affluenza otherwise known as too much of a good thing.
A well known chocolate manufacturer allows all its factory workers to eat all the chocolate they want on the job. New chocolate loving employees feast during the first few days while those who have been there a while can’t bare the taste any longer.
How many people have won vast sums of money in a lottery and felt all their problems were over only to find themselves destitute again within five years and traumatised by the constant demands on their generosity and the failed relationships when others expectations had not been met?
Is the best that you can hope for good enough? I know that I have no idea where my next dollar is coming from. When I had an affluent income as an airline pilot I had way more worries than I do now. Some of my affluent former colleagues have millions amassed in retirement funds and some of them lay awake at night worried that it may not be there in the morning when they wake up.
Today I am happy in my skin. I have a wonderful marriage and honest relationships and living in the country there is an abundance of all the good things I need. I feel a sense of injustice in the world and I decry the control of others on people who just want to live and let live, but in that discourse I am happy because I feel I am doing what God requires me to do in standing up and doing my bit to defend the freedom of my grandchildren. I feel more each day that I am living into God’s will for my life and in that there is great joy.
A former Prime Minister of Australia was famous for saying ‘life wasn’t meant to be easy.’ He was right. If the forbidden fruit had not been eaten in Eden it could have been easy, but we know that story.
In a life where character development is what life is now all about, we must understand that this work cannot be conducted on calm seas. We need the hardship to find the pathway to peace remember?
Reasonable happiness is based on reason and not fantasy and as such it can only be real and within reach.
A mouse was being chased towards a cliff by hungry lions. As it came to the edge of the precipice it looked down. ‘Do I jump to certain death or turn to be eaten by lions?’ As he looked for more options he noticed a vine going down the rock face. He grabbed the vine and climbed down as far as it reached. Hanging with no where to go, a shear drop beneath and a pride of hungry lions looking down from the edge, he looked to one side. There he saw growing from a crevice, a strawberry vine with the biggest strawberry he had ever seen hanging from it. He reached out and grabbed the strawberry. He thought to himself…..mmmm this is the best strawberry I have ever eaten.
Get the point?
Questions
- Putting consumerism and material things aside, what do you need to feel reasonably happy?
- List all those things in your daily life that make you smile?
- Given that the best things in life aren’t things, they are relationships; what are you prepared to hand over to Jesus today as you move to a life of reasonable happiness?
Prayer
Dear Lord, Papa God.
Everyday you shower us with blessings that we often miss in the hustle of living. Papa please help us to stop and listen, to look and smell and to see your hand and hear your voice. We need you Papa to show us that we are precious in your sight. We need your help in this because we are frail and lowly of heart. Build in us a heart of gratitude and joy from the simple things that really matter, and show us today, someone who we can be with to share the simple pleasures of our relationship with you. Guide and lead us and fill us with the fruits of the spirit in the darkest times when they are most needed, is our prayer in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Graham Hood