Serenity

The dictionary defines serenity as "steadiness of mind under stress". Many of us have heard of The Serenity Prayer - "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change; courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference." However, it wasn't until lately that I discovered that those are only the opening lines of the prayer. The rest goes like this:

Living one day at a time;
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;
Trusting that He will make all things right
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 tells us of this kind of peace of mind in Isaiah 26:3 - "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You." We are told of "a peace that surpasses all understanding in Philippians 4:6-8 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

So how do I learn to live a peace filled life?
1. Live one moment at a time.
2. Do not dwell on past or be anxious over the future.
3. Enjoy the life that God has given to me.
4. Realize that everyone faces trials and God gives us each the grace and mercy to face the unique trials that come into our lives.
5. Accept the trials that God allows in my life as His will for me and believe that He brings them to mature me and to teach me to be more like Him.
6. Learn to see this world as it truly is - not how I would like it to be! (Okay so I have control issues, but God is working on those too!)
7. Trust that He will make all things right in His time, His way and for His glory.
8. Fix my mind on God and the things listed in Philippians 4.

Father, teach me to surrender my will to yours, to trust You completely and to rest in your peace daily!!

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful.

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My Master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that." "I don't like
it!" "Let me alone."

But He only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet!"

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!" I screamed.

But the Master only nodded and said quietly, 'Not yet.'

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit Himself and then He put me in the oven.

I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!"

I could see him through the opening and I could read His lips as He shook His head from side to side, 'Not yet'.

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought.

But, after I cooled He picked me up and brushed and painted me all over.The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it, Stop', I cried.

He only shook His head and said. 'Not yet!'.

Then suddenly He put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and He took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering "What's He going to do to me next?"

An hour later He handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.'

And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful'!!

Quietly He spoke, 'I want you to remember,' He said. 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"

The moral of this story is: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this .Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter.