Video Transcript: Phrase Seven

All right, welcome to this mini class on the Serenity Prayer, I hope you're  enjoying looking at each one of these parts. In this session, we're going to look  at phrase seven, trusting that he, God, will make all things right, if I surrender to  His will. So we've been looking at this whole thing, God grant me the serenity to  accept the things I cannot change. Okay, there's certain things that I just can't  change, the courage to change the things that I can change, and the wisdom to  know the difference, living one day at a time accepting hardships, as the  pathway to peace. Taking, as he did, the 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. The key of  course here is surrendering to God's will, Romans 8:28-32. And we know that all things God works for the gift of those who love Him. God works for the good of  those who love him. Of course, that's the sort of requirement those who love  Him who have been called according to His purpose. Have you been called  according to His purpose? Now, maybe you wonder that this is like a like a little  provision. Well, what if God doesn't love me? Well, what if God hasn't called me  according to His purpose? And how do I know? How do I know if God loves me? How do I know. If I've been called according to His purpose. You may know  because you accepted Christ, and you feel his presence in your life, your gifts  through the Holy Spirit, but maybe someone that you're sharing this prayer with,  maybe they don't know. They know about God, you've been talking about God to them. But you know, we get to this part of the Serenity Prayer, and they're not  sure that God loves them. Or that they have a purpose, or that God actually has  a purpose for them. A lot of people are not sure about that. If you ask, so what's  your God purpose? A lot of people go, I don't know. So this is an opportunity for  you to share that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love them who've been called according to His purpose. Today, you can know  that God loves you. Today, you can know for sure that God has a purpose for  your life. And this is how, you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That's the,  that's the key step. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the love of God  flows towards you. The purpose of God is for you, God has a purpose. There's  no one that accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior that doesn't have a purpose. The two go together, and you might not know what it is. But we can settle this  whole issue here today. I mean, isn't that a great lead into to actually leading  someone to Christ. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God  is for us, who can be against us? And who he who did not spare His own Son,  but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? We know in all things God works for the good for those who love him. This is the most comforting and troubling verse in the Bible. It's comforting  because when bad things happen, you can have this sense that well, but some  good can probably come out of this. And it's often comforting. In the beginning of the difficult thing. Let's say you're going through a difficult time, maybe your  spouse walked out on you or maybe you have a child who walked away from the

faith. These are really difficult thing or maybe you got a diagnosis or someone  that you know, got a bad diagnosis from the doctor. These are really difficult.  From the beginning of that, when you take this verse, Romans 8, you can sorta  conclude, well, it's difficult right now, but there's some good thing that's coming.  See in the beginning, you can have that thought because you're at the beginning of it, of course, if something good is going to happen, it's going to be slightly in  the future. So you have this hope. But then a day goes by a week goes by a  month goes by, a year goes by, and you still don't see that good thing. See in  the beginning it's very encouraging, because it gives you hope. But over time,  hope that never happens, is more discouraging, sometimes than having hope at  all. So that's why often, we give up. We say, you know, it's just too hard to hang  on to hope. You see, that's what faith is all about. That's what faith is all about.  It's hanging on. And you know, what? We know that all things God words for  good for those who have been called according to His purpose. This verse is  real easy to give and, to hang on to, but it's hard to really hang on to it in your  life. And, you know, if I were honest, you know, in the beginning of the difficult  things I'm holding on to this, I remember when my mother fell down those steps,  and you know, we were holding on to hope that something good would happen.  And we didn't know that, you know, she'd never walk again. And we're holding  on to this hope. And, but eventually, you know, sometimes things go south, and  it doesn't happen, or, you know, my son and daughter in law trying to have a  child and, you know, there's hopeful things, hopeful procedures, and, you know,  but then a month goes by two months go by a year goes by two years goes by  two years, four years go by, eventually, it's hard to hang on to that hope. To be  honest, sometimes in my life, I've let go of the hope and maybe you have a  marriage and it's not gone well and you you've tried the hope route for years,  and nothing has changed. And so the hope candle is slowly be extinguished.  And I've experienced in my life, where the hope candle went out and I have no  more hope. I know I should I'm a Christian God can do anything, God can make  miracles, but from my human point of, you know, my ability to hang on to the  candle, I just can't do it anymore. God is still faithful. Even when we give up  hope that doesn't mean that God is not still working. And I've experienced this  over and over again, when I finally gave up. Lord, I give up. I'm giving up on  hope I'm giving up on courage. I'm giving up on everything. Then God steps in.  it's like God. Sometimes will wait till we hit the rock bottom. And you can't like  fool God, God, you know, I'm not really giving up but I'm saying these words so  that you kick in and do something. I've done that fishing, you know, you're  fishing and then you know, I got I'm gonna make one more cast and then you  catch the fish. And then next time you're fishing, you're like, I'm gonna make one more cast, but I'm just saying that because it worked last time I'm going to do it.  We can't like manipulate God into these. But often, like it's like Zachariah and  Elizabeth, you know, they waited for a child. And they had given up they're too 

old. I mean, that was Zachariah's excuse to the angel. We're too old. We gave  we gave up on that long ago. But that doesn't mean God still is not working.  Never give up.