Chaplain's Corner
by Rev. Randy L Evans
Hospice Chaplain
Everybody thinks they have the key to peace of mind or at least wants you to think so - so you’ll buy their product. Peace of mind is such an important concept in life that people will do almost anything to find it. They will travel to exotic places at great expense. They will sniff brain-destroying drugs up their nose. People will try all kinds of things in their search for personal peace. But the truth is very few people in this world are at peace with themselves. Most people carry a high degree of stress, of anxiety, of tension in their lives. I need to say right up front that peace has nothing to do with problem-free living. If you have to wait until all your problems are solved to be at peace, you’re never going to be at peace. Peace of mind is the result of some important decisions we need to make. 1. ACCEPT WHAT CANNOT BE CHANGED WHAT BRINGS TRUE COMFORT IN LIFE? Millions of people pray the Serenity Prayer every day. You’re familiar with this: “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.” That is a very famous prayer by a man named Reihold Neibor. But it is edited. There are eight more lines to the Serenity Prayer that you may never have heard. That’s where all the power is. The power of peace is not in the first part of the prayer. It’s in the part that they’ve cut out. The Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenity Living one day at a time Trusting that He will make all things right God says this is the starting point to peace –accepting what can’t be changed. 2. TRUST IN GOD’S LOVING CARE You have a list of problems in your life, the moment you knock off your biggest problem, Number Two gets promoted and now you have another Number One problem. There is a word for a series of problems – LIFE. You’ve got to learn to have peace in the middle of your problems or you’re never going to have peace. Regardless of the problem, regardless of the source, you still need the same response every time –- trust in the loving care of God. 3. SURRENDER TO GOD’S LOVING CONTROL I’ll never forget that tragic scene a few years back at the Olympics when Ali was chosen to light the torch. He climbed up the stairs and with a palsied, Parkinson’s shake in his hand he could barely light that torch from the shaking in his body. Later in an interview he said, “God gave me that so I could remember that I’m not the greatest, but He is.” That’s pretty good advice, a pretty good attitude. When I listen to His word and follow His direction, what is the result of that? It is always the same. Peace. Romans 5:1 (NLT) Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
God has promised peace of mind because it’s a fundamental need of your life.
Worrying about what cannot be changed certainly won’t give you peace.
There is only one thing that will bring peace in your life and that is acceptance. Acceptance of what cannot be changed.
What comforts us is the presence of God in our life. Not God’s explanations, God’s care and concern and comfort.
By Reinhold Niebuhr
to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it
if I surrender to His Will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
As I said earlier, you will never live a problem-free life. There is no such thing as a problem-free life. Because… It’s always something. If it isn’t one thing it’s another.
I remember when I was a kid, Mohammed Ali was the World’s champion and he was going around saying, “I am the greatest! I am the greatest!”