How does God grant me serenity???
Like nearly everything in life, there is balance. For every up, there is a down. Day, night. Life, death. Good, bad.
Balance.
And in the world of prayer, this idea remains consistent. For every prayer, there must be action. "Faith without works is dead"
I can pray for tomatoes in my garden all day, but unless I plant, nourish and nurture the seeds, my prayer and my garden will remain empty.
Serenity is not obtained by hoping I am lucky or chosen to be gifted peace by some magical force in the sky. Recovery is not obtained by sitting on my ass at meetings. Freedom is not obtained by sulking in my shackles.
I must balance my life. I must do my part. I have to work at removing, in order to receive. If I want peace, I must rid myself of turmoil. If I want serenity, I have to work to get rid of the things in my life that create chaos.
Without taking an honest look at myself, regularly, and identifying the things I am doing or not doing to create a lack of peace and serenity in my life, I will never have what I am hoping and praying for!
God's GRACE is freely given. But peace of mind is earned.
Balance.
Like the tomato, I need the weeds around me that strangle my growth, pulled. I need to nourish my surroundings with healthy soil. And I must continue to look at what is hindering my growth and remove it.
I cannot look out across the garden at other tomato plants, either at their ugliness or their brilliance and judge or complain my way to the harvest!!! What those plants do, or do not do is not my job to control or judge. My job is to grow!
Are you pulling the weeds and distractions out of the garden of your recovery life? Or are you letting them choke you, and the serenity you prayed for?
When was the last time you noticed fear, anger, or guilt in your own garden and actually sat down with a pen and paper to do the work of cleaning up your own side of the street? Have you prayed but failed to get some dirt under your nails by digging in your own soil?
Pointing my finger at the weeds in someone else's garden will NOT put any tomato sauce on my pizza!!!
Enjoy the journey ❤️
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