Video Transcript: Phrase Two

All right, here we go. The second phrase of the serenity prayer. Here it is,  phrase two the courage to change the things I can. So in the first phrase, we  said, there, there are things that I can't do anything about it. I have to accept  those and trust that God can take care of these. The second phrase is sort of  the those things that that, that maybe I can do something about the courage to  change the things that I can Philippians 4:13 This is one of my favorite verses, I  can do all things through Him who gives me strength. That's interesting. The  context of this verse is Paul, saying, you know, I've learned to be in Hunger, you  know, in want.. I've learned to be well fed. I've learned, you know, in the good  times, and the bad times that that, that, you know, life can be filled with hurtful  things. And chaotic things in life can be filled with great things. And I've learned  how to be content in all those circumstances. And then, at the end, he says, I  can do all things through Him who gives me strength. The context is I can do I  can I can somehow survive these difficult things, and maybe do something  about them with the strength that God provides. What's difficult to know is, when is it a thing that I can do something about the situation when, when is it not?  Another verse? Joshua 1:9, so Moses, is sort of handing over the reins to  Joshua. And he does so with these words, Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous gonna take strength and courage to lead these people do not  be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Now, why is Moses saying this to Joshua?  Because Moses knows, discouraging times are ahead. And there are going to  be situations where the natural response would be fear. You can see the context of the situation here. But by the things that Moses brings up, be strong, because you know what, you're gonna feel weak. Be courageous, because that's what it's gonna take to lead these people because you're not the natural response is to  turn and run the other way. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged for the Lord  will be with you where ever you go. the courage to do something about the  things that I can. I think you know when Reinhold Niebuhr wrote these, thinking  about how easy it is, for us to just throw up our hands. When life is hard, it's  easier to worry, or complain about the things that are coming into our lives than  to actually do something about it.. I mean, if you think about the context of your  friends and people that you spend a lot of time with talking, how much of that  time is not just worrying and complaining? How much of that time is planning  about doing something about the situation that is in front of you now, why don't  we do? Why do we resort to complaint and worry? Because I think number one,  the fear of failure. I mean, if, if I'm faced with a difficult situation, let's say I'm in a marriage situation, or I'm in a work situation, and my boss is, you know, making  things difficult. It's easy for me to just go with someone and complain about my  boss, or complain about my marriage or complain about my children. It takes  courage to say I want to do something about it, because what are you going to  do? Well, maybe I'm gonna talk to the boss. Well see now talking to the boss  about our problem, that you have with a boss. You know, how well is that going 

to go? Who knows? Who knows what you you might lose your job. You might  make your marriage worse. You might create conflict with your children. So the  easiest thing is just complain. Or to just silently worry about these things it takes  courage to step out and say I want to do something about it because we don't  always know whether what we're going to do is going to work or not. Courage.  Alright, so that's the second phrase. And we'll come back to the next session on  the third phrase