To Welcome or Receive Favorably

Last night in my AA home group the topic was acceptance.
Being a bit of a word nerd, I decided to look up its etymology — and to my surprise, its Latin root means “to welcome or receive favorably.”

That caught me off guard.

Because for most of my life, acceptance meant something closer to “tolerate,” “endure,” or “just deal with.” I associated it with resigning myself to something I couldn’t control — not embracing it.

But seen through a spiritual lens, this older definition holds a deeper truth.

To welcome or receive favorably isn’t passive at all — it’s active surrender.
It is choosing to walk with God in whatever comes, not after the storm passes, but inside it.

Things aren’t the way I hoped?
Thank You, God — You are giving me a chance to grow.

Worry comes knocking?
Good — now I get to lean into prayer and trust.

Acceptance becomes gratitude in motion — not for the pain itself, but for God’s presence inside it.

It reminds me of patience:
Patience is not the ability to wait — it’s the posture we hold while waiting.

So it is with acceptance.

It’s all happening in God’s perfect timing — whether in this world or the one to come.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:18

When we accept, we are not giving up — we are giving in to God.