Grant me the Serenity

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

“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.” -The Serenity Prayer

This past week, I spent a couple of hours pulling expired black-eyed Susans out of my flower bed. Their brown eyes winked at me and said, “We’re done.” As I popped them out of the ground, I felt the muscles in my legs pull.

As I ripped the stems from the soil, I found room to move one of my lavender plants. I had planted the English lavender too close to the French lavender, and the French version took over the English one. After digging up and dividing the English lavender, it now has plenty of room to grow.

Change isn’t easy, but it needed to happen in the flower bed. The dead plants needed removed and the lavender needed space to flourish.

I’ve never been great with change. As I’ve grown older and hopefully wiser, I’m a little better, but at times uncomfortable and uncertain. The uncertainty is what stirs my anxiety. The not knowing why a change happened, or why I should make a change. I’m sure you get it. I don’t know many people who embrace a shift in life and roll with it, without struggle or question.

In the flower bed, the process gave way to growth. Removing the dead stems and moving the lavender allowed the garden to grow again. Even though my leg muscles ached, the rearrangement of the garden was good. Most of the time, change leads to personal growth, even when I don’t like it.

In life, I’ve had to accept the things I can’t change and place them in God’s hands and trust Him with all my heart. I’ve had to muster the courage to change what I could, still trusting God with the results as I prayed for understanding.

I’m thankful Jesus never changes. He stays the same, no matter what, and I can depend on Him.

Pray about change and trust God.