Drop a tennis ball and it falls to the ground. It’s called “gravity.” When the ball hits the ground it bounces. That’s called “kinetic energy.”
We don’t fight these two things - it’s simply the way things work.
In this session, we’re going to look at “acceptance” of the way things work in a broken, fallen world.
We are wise to invite God to help us. Consider the first line in the Serenity Prayer - “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Acceptance is a word from the wilderness, the desert, and fierce landscapes where we face the fact that we have no control.
Acceptance is like 5 card stud poker. Stud not draw. We have to do the best we can with what we have! The orphan hordes and hides. The boy folds. The man plays ‘em as best he can and doesn’t whine about it.
Acceptance is coming to terms and not getting stuck in the debilitating, life draining tar pit of “Why me??? anger, and resentment. Sometimes life isn’t fair. Tires go flat. Jobs relocate or get phased out. Illnesses strike. Sometimes things just happen. Sometimes it’s due to the poor choices of others that trap us in the backwash.
Acceptance is about those things we cannot change. The things we have prayed about and gotten a clear answer of ‘no’ from God.
Acceptance is a choice. Most often we need to drop into acceptance when we are consumed with being right or having a specific outcome -- namely, our own!
Acceptance of the way things really are, not as we’d like them to be.
Acceptance of your limits. Knowing what you have control over and what you don’t.
Acceptance of other people’s opinions. Letting go of needing to be “right.”
Acceptance can be defined as letting go of my opinion or my assessment of things and taking hold of what is true.
Acceptance of me by God. “My heart began to thaw as I became open to His unconditional acceptance of me as I am, not as I should be. He loves me whether in a state of grace or disgrace, whether I live up to the lofty expectations of His gospel or I don’t. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.” Brennan Manning
With acceptance, we trade good for great, angst for peace while everything inside seems to scream “NO!!!!!”
Jesus tells the story of a Centurion, an officer in the Roman army. The officer asked Jesus for help with a sick soldier under his command. Here’s how the conversation went...
“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The Centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Matthew 8:5-13 NIV
The Centurion understood and accepted how things work in the natural, physical world. For example, he understood the devastating effects of terminal illness and he understood the chain of command.
But more importantly, the Centurion understood the power of prayer (making a request of Jesus) and placed his hope and faith in Jesus. And Jesus is never bound by or limited to the way things (normally) work!