One of Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “being proactive.” Another way to put this is to choose rather than accept. So often we say, “I have no choice”, when we actually do have options. We may not like the choices and their foreseen results but there are choices. You have a boss you can't stand? You can choose to quit your job! You don't have the money to eat your favourite foods? You can choose to change your diet to less expensive foods! Your friend gets on your nerves constantly? You can end the friendship! As long as you have convinced yourself you are powerless, you are. In the cases I just mentioned you don't have to choose any of the options you consider but reminding yourself that you are choosing to accept things as they are gives you power you did not have, and often helps the situation look more manageable.

Matthew 22:19-22
“[Jesus said] . . . Show me the coin used for paying the tax.”
They brought him a denarius, and he asked them,
“Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar's,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

What does Jesus actually say with his answer about paying taxes to Caesar? Does he say it is obvious to pay taxes since Caesar is the emperor? Or does he counsel to not pay taxes to Caesar because he is not the true emperor? Jesus says the answer is not obvious: you have a choice and you need to make it. He does not provide a definitive answer because there is no one answer. The life of faith is not one of certainty but one of constant reliance on the Spirit for guidance. Among many examples you can look to, John 8 and the story of the “Woman caught in adultery” where Jesus says, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Instead of the obvious - she sinned so she should be stoned to death - Jesus infuses the situation with complication, choice and the need to rely on the Spirit to choose our course of action.

If you are unfamiliar yet curious about the picture check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_had_an_option,_sir