It is God alone who judges;
he decides who will rise and who will fall (Psalm 75:7 NLT).

We have been through a difficult week. There have been multitudes of photos, podcasts, Youtube accounts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The country is in turmoil. There are a lot of stories of who Charlie truly was, and unfortunately, a lot of hurtful lies. We are grieving. Things feel out of control. Yet, “It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall,” as the words above state.

This past week, Jim and I traveled to visit my son who lives on the eastern side of our state. It is a beautiful drive with so many contrasts. The newly harvested fields are golden and in the sunlight, the brightness almost hurts your eyes. Below are a few photos of our drive.

While visiting our son, we were able to see our newest grand–he’s our fourth great-grand in our combined family. Below, here he is at seven weeks:

My daughter, Erika, is a podcaster and today, she inspired me with words about the Serenity Prayer.

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.
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. (Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971).

This prayer can bring comfort and courage in our faith in God to all who repeat it and meditate on it. It is reminiscent to Philippians 4:6 where we are reminded to “be anxious for nothing.”

What about the phrase: Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is? Well, God didn’t take the sinful world as “it is,” because he sent his son, Jesus, to die and be the perfect sacrifice for the world’s sins. He gave his life, and best of all, was raised from the dead. He offers that eternal life to those who believe Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.”

So, as we contemplate serenity to accept the things we cannot change and courage to change the things we can change, we can trust the God who gave his Son as the perfect sacrifice so we can have the eternal life Jesus promised us when we believe in him alone.

One of the things we can change could be to have civil discourse–as Charlie did– instead of disconnecting with a person we disagree with so our children, our grandchildren, and great-grand children can live in safety.

I can’t help but include the model prayer Jesus gave to his disciples when he was on earth:

Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,
4 and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation (Luke 11:2-4 NLT).

Thank you for joining me today. I treasure each of you. Did you know before I send out this blog I pray for each of you as you read it? I do. May you be encouraged today.

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