Our God is a God of the present day! Yes, He is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. He is the same God of Matthew, Mark Luke, John and Paul. This same God is also the unchanging God of our present day. He is my God, and He is your God. He is the God to turn to in our present day troubles and the God to thank and rejoice with in our present day joys. He is a God who sees our tears. He is a God who hears our prayers and never, for even a moment, forgets us. For He is an unchanging God (Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6); unchanging in His unconditional love for us; unchanging in His ability to hear and answer our prayers; unchanging in His desire for us to live righteously; to choose good over evil, light over darkness, love over hate, understanding over bigotry, compassion over an uncaring attitude towards others, and forgiveness over impatience and revenge.
We, as weak and doubting human beings, are the ones who move away from God and this, for many reasons. For some, it is a lack of faith; for some, it is a lack of exercising that faith; for some it is a lack of strengthening that faith (through daily prayer, scripture reading and love and service to others); and yet, for others, it my be a lack of patience in accepting God's hand in their life. You know, like the Serenity prayer says: "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 difference."
This walking and living the serenity prayer is a process for each of us, and it has specific and salient applications to the transgendered community. How many of us have repeatedly denied and/or repressed our transgendered selves? How many of us have gone through various times wherein we threw out all physical remnants of our femininity (the "purging" of wardrobes, etc.)? How many of us have in the past (and perhaps continue to) not possess the serenity to accept the things we cannot change regarding our sexuality, our sexual dispositions, attractions, desires and passions?
An unwritten formula that appears throughout biblical stories that God has given us has been to work as though it depended upon us and pray as though it depended upon God. Our Heavenly Father always wants us to do our part; to do the very best we can at obeying His laws and keeping His commandments. We see this throughout the scriptures. For example, when our Savior was calling Lazarus from the tomb, He asked those near by to remove the large stone which had been used to seal the tomb. The Son of God could have removed this Himself; but He had those that had gathered nearby remove it -- in other words, He had men do what they could do. After Lazarus came forth from the tomb, He then commanded those nearby to remove the bandages from Lazarus. The Son of God could have simply caused the bandages to fall off of Lazarus, but again, He had man do what he could do. (John I 1: 1-45) In the early days with His apostles, He could have had the fish jump up into the boat, but He instructed the Apostle fisherman to lower their nets, once again, into the water. The nets, as you recall, were filled to the point of breaking. (Luke 5:1-I 1) We again see that man is instructed to first do what he can do, and then, with divine intervention, the miracles occur.
There are countless scriptural examples that could be used to further illustrate this point. As you read the scriptures look for them, and you will see them. My point is that God has always required of us to do our part first -- and when righteous, sincere effort was or is put forth, God, our unchanging God, has always stood by ready to bless His children. Sometimes those blessings, however, come in ways or forms that we do not initially perceive.
So included within the serenity prayer, " ...the courage to change the things I can..." implies on our part effort, yet, in the same breath, " the wisdom" (and this too, a gift from God) to know and understand the difference between the things I must accept in my life -- with serenity -- and the things that (with courage) and through exerting effort on our part, (coupled with divine help) that I may be able to change. Again, my dear sweet transgendered brothers and sisters, learning how this formula applies to our unique situations is a process; sometimes a life long process. So, as we are going through this process .... as I am going through this process .... here are the words of my heart in a prayer that I often pray .... these words are special to me .... I offer them to you that perhaps you, too, as I have, may find some comfort in them, through the gift and visitation of His Spirit.
"Oh Heavenly Father, Thou hast given me a new heart; Thou hast revealed unto me Thy great and benevolent grace, and hast revealed the mercy of Thy forgiving hand. If Thou hast done all of these great and wonderful things for me, if Thou hast given unto me these great blessings, why then Father, Holy One who dwells in the Holy Courts above, why oh loving Father, has Thou allowed, within Thy son, to yet be the thoughts, the dreams, the desires and the passions of a woman? There has been no escape for me from this! Help me Father, pray, to establish myself in Thy righteousness; whether I be male or female. Let Thy righteousness be upon me, and Thy Spirit guide the directions of my feet, my hands, my heart. Oh Holy Father, I pray that I may always remember Thee; and that in always remembering Thee, that I may keep the laws, commandments and principles of behavior which Thou hast given unto me to live by and this, through the gospel of Thine only begotten son, Jesus Christ. And as I grow in my ability to understand and live Thy gospel, and as I grow in my understanding of my unique challenges while in this life, I pray that as I do these things, that I may more fully enjoy the presence of Thy Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, and encourage me.
For these things I pray, in the name of my Savior and Redeemer,
Jesus Christ, Amen."
