Change . ( Philippians 4 v 8 /Colossians 3 v1 -2)

 It was Reinhold Niebuhr who wrote what is known as the Serenity Prayer, it is a very popular prayer  ,here are the words                                         

                                               '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 differnce'

Yes there is much wisdom in that prayer, there are things we cannot change ,death,yes it obivious it is inevitable,but we can rejoice in a Saviour who died and rose again,and said ,'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who beleves in Me will live, even though they die'. (John 11 v25 ) Yes we cannot change death but we can have peace and serenity when our time comes,as David the Psalmist tells us ,'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me'.(Psalm 23 v 4) There are many things we cannot change,we cannot change our past,the abuse we may have suffered,the mistakes we made,the hurts we have experienced,the failed marriage,the missed opportunities. All these things and more may hunt us ,but we cannot change the past ,but we don't have to be prisoners of the past,yes we may never forget them,Think of the people Jesus dealt with and how He healed them,how he gave them hope,He sets the prisoners free ,He can set you free from the past,that's why He came.Then the prayer says there are things that won't change,the apostle Paul had an affliction ,like all of us he prayed and prayed,and prayed that God would heal him but God said no,but he promised him grace to bear it.(2 Cor 12 v 9) One writer puts Paul's  response in the following words,'I quit focusing on the handicap ,whither they are,abuse,accidents,oppositionns,bad breaks'.Yes change by the grace of  God  can happen if we stop focusing on the past ,by God's grace we can,it is possible.