Scripture Sunday: Prayer to Grant Thee & Romans 8:28

Scripture Sunday is … simply a post I’ll make on a Sunday that involves something about Scripture!  Some examples would be: how reading the Bible helped me handle a particular situation in my life; or what is a favorite Bible verse on a particular subject and why I like it; or what section of Scripture relates to / or is mentioned in one of my novels. 

Today’s Scripture Topic: At Peace With Grief For Good

This summer, one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life occurred.

No one died; I know most people probably assume death would be the cause of the greatest emotional pain.  Death is devastating, but it is a certainty, we will all die someday.  So, for me, part of death’s sting is taken away because my heart is already anticipating hurt to come from that.

What happened this summer was totally unexpected.  It was something that I never, ever, ever thought would happen.  I know that’s half of the reason the sorrow was so profound—unlike death, I didn’t think this event was ever a possibility, so I was totally unprepared for this strike to my chest.

Unexpected, Unwarranted, Unjustified, Unimaginable.  That’s what this incident was … and over six months later I’m still Unable to Understand why it took place.

Even though I’m still unable to understand it, I’ve recently been able to accept it.  There are two reasons for this: the Serenity Prayer and Romans 8:28.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

-American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

Although I had heard the Serenity Prayer before, I never thought about praying it for this situation until a family member told me it is a prayer she says often.  She texted the prayer to me, hoping it would help.  Well it did; it most certainly did.

I’ve been praying this prayer since about November, keeping my particular heart-breaking circumstance in the forefront of my mind when asking God for serenity, courage, and wisdom.  I believe God has granted me these three things in this situation.

In addition to the Serenity Prayer, another writing that I had read before suddenly really hit home just this last week as I was doing my homework for my Bible Study Fellowship class.

That’s why we can be so sure that every detail of our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

-Romans 8:28 MSG

This passage brought additional serenity to me, when I applied it to my emotional situation that happened this summer.  I thought to myself how even though I don’t understand it, I do know that everything, even bad things, are worked into a good end result by God.  For me then, I’m accepting this bad thing happened as part of God’s plan that will result in something good in the end.

I’ve incorporated the ideas from both the Serenity Prayer and Romans 8:28 into my list of New Year’s Resolutions.  That is, one of my resolutions will be to look at every difficult situation in light of the words from these writings; in simple form, my resolution is to not let the emotional upsets of this world affect me so terribly.  Instead, pray the prayer hoping it will be granted, and say the lines of Scripture, knowing that even bad things can be used for good

Questions For Readers:

What is a similar situation you’ve went through that it would have been helpful to have this prayer and / or Scripture verses handy?  What is your favorite Scripture related to this subject?  Do you like the NIV translation of these verses, or a different translation, and if so, why?

Please answer in the “Leave a reply” box below.  (Note: Replies will not immediately post, so don’t won’t worry if your comment doesn’t show up right away.)