When we cannot change our circumstances, Jesus is still there to comfort us.   ~~~   What is something you wish so desperately you could change, right now, but you cannot? If you’re like me, I have a mile long list. It’s a crazy feeling isn’t it? This isn’t right. I want to make it right. This wasn’t supposed to be this way. How can I fix this? This is not how my story was to be written. What can I do to change it? Is there a REDO button for this day or this chapter of life? When life doesn’t turn out like we expected or the big waves almost knock us down, we all must come to a place we simply understand that we are NOT in control. It’s that ‘throw your hands in the air’ moment of surrender. Broken moments, broken chapters, broken pieces of our lives that are beyond our control, are the very moments God uses to remind us, He IS our only hope. He is the ONE who holds it all together and no matter how many pieces there may be to our life, He is the only one who can put them back together in a way we would have never imagined. He is there, IN every moment, wanting to carrying us through it. How does a child let you know they want to be carried? They put their hands in the air. We must do the same. We come to a place where we accept the reality that we can’t, and God can. When we rest in that, there is peace. Are you familiar with the serenity prayer? It’s a prayer to God asking for calmness and peace in all matters of life. It was written by Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr and promoted and published in the nineteen thirties and forties. There are two versions and I want to read you both. The short version is this, O God grant me... the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference, Amen. The full version reads like this, 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. The line that makes me smile is, ‘so I may be reasonably happy in this life’. There are things we can’t change and there are things we can. What I love about this prayer is it is full of surrender, while at the same time accepting responsibility. God calls us to water walk in seasons and He also calls us to be carried. My prayer is that whatever any day may hold that I always know who holds it. Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Jesus holds me together, ever single day. I’m so grateful He does. Whether you choose to trust Him or not, He holds you too. He is IN it all and working through it all for your good. Believing that brings peace and accepting what we cannot change, is serenity. That’s the truth. If you’re struggling with what you cannot control, trust Jesus with it. One day all things will be made right, but until that day, we walk, rest and move by faith and find peace only when WE let go. I’m Lori Cline.