Today, I have a question for you. Have you ever felt like you
were the wrong person for the job, Like, what did you get yourself
into You didn't have the right experience or the right skill set? Well,
I know I have and you probably have too. This is Pastor Rick's Daily
Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren. Okay, today we're
going to continue with the series the Manifestation of Your Life mission. Rick is
showing us that no matter how big the thing is that God is calling us
to do, we don't have to run away from it. We can actually
run toward it. This is such a good message, and I hope you'll
invite a friend to listen along with you as we discover how to embrace God's
calling on our lives and how we can live according to the purpose and plan
that He has for us. Now, let's join Rick as he shares the
final part of a message called what to Do when You Cause a Storm Jonah,
Chapter one, verse twelve. Jonah says, here's what you guys do,
Okay, throw me overboard, throw me overboard, down int the seat.
In other words, cast me upon the grace of God. Okay,
he says, Jonah said, and everything will calm down. I know that
it's my fault that you guys are having to fight this terrible storm. Now,
this is the first unselfish thing that Jonah's done. He goes, look,
just I'm the cause of the storm, and you guys are all dying,
and the ship's cracking up, and it's gonna just toss me overboard.
I'm tossed me into the hands of God, into the grace of God,
and everything will calm down. Do the soldiers or do we do the sailors
take his advice? Nah? No, sailors try to solve the problem themselves.
Look at the next verse, verse thirteen. Instead, the sailors tried
harder to row the ship back to land in safety, but they could not
turn it around from the raging for the raging storm was out of control.
Now I want you to circle three things in this verse. Okay, First
circle, out of control, out of control. The situation was out of
control. Okay. Second circle, they could not turn it around. They
it was out of control. They could not turn it around. Okay,
Then circle the third thing. They tried harder. Does that sound like your
life? Does that sound like your life? You know it it's out of
control. You've tried to turn it around and it hadn't work. If you're
just trying harder, it's out of control. You can't turn it around,
and you're just trying harder. Here's the seventh lesson. Write this down.
If I'm fighting God's plan, try buying harder doesn't work. If I'm fighting
God's plan, if I'm running from God, trying harder won't doesn't work because
your arms are too short to box with God. God is God and you're
not the Only way you're going to be saved is to just surrender to the
grace and goodness and mercy and love of God and throw yourself in his arms.
You can't save yourself. I'm not just talking about saving yourself to heaven.
I'm talking about in the situation you're in right now. You can't do
it on your own. Look look at this verse. You know this verse
Ephesians, chapter two in the Bible, verse eight and nine. You will
be saved, not just in heaven, but from the problem you're in right
now. You will be saved by trusting in God's grace. You can't save
yourself. It's gift from God. Salvation is never the result of your own
effort, so you can't brag about it. If you could work your way
to heaven, you realize what an ego trip heaven would be. Everybody be
there bragging, go, well, I got here because I did this.
Well I got here because I did that, and it would be miserable.
That would be hell. Now you can't. You can't save yourself now.
The last three lessons are really good news because when I actually throw myself onto
God's grace, throw me overboard, put me in the hands of God.
I'm just gonna trust God with my future. I've been running from him too
long. Three miracles happened in Job's life, I mean Jonah's life, and
these same three miracles will happen in your life. When you accept your mission
and you stop running from God, when you start fulfilling the purpose you were
made for instead of fulfilling the purpose that you're making up for your life,
three miracles will happen. Okay, here they are number one miracle Number one,
When I do what God wants, things will calm down. When I
finally do what God wants, things will calm down, and all of a
sudden there's a peace where there was storm. All of a sudden, there's
rest where there was panic. I want you to look at what happens Jonah
Chapter one, verse fourteen and fifteen. Finally, I mean, it's like
last resort. Finally, the sailors cried out to Jonah's God. We've tried
our gods. That didn't work. They cried out to Jonah's God. Oh
Lord, don't let us die because of this man's life. And please don't
hold us responsible for his death. Because you Lord sent this storm for your
purpose. You know that storm you're going through right now is because God has
a purpose for it. God's purpose for your life is greater than the problems
you're going through. The purpose is always greater than the problem. You Lord
sent this storm for your purpose. God has a good purpose for the storm
in your life. You sent this storm for your purpose. Then they took
Jonah and they threw him overboard, and immediately, not like a minute later,
immediately the raging see calmed down. That's a miracle. Storms don't just
stop immediately. They went from crashing waves to immediately it's calm. That's miracle
number one. And when I do this, when I said God, I'm
going to stop running from you. I've been running from you a long time.
The things will calm down immediately, the raging storm calms down. Okay,
here's miracle number two. When I do what God wants, Unbelievers believe,
people get saved. Unbelievers around me believe. When I finally do what
God wants me to do. Now, I remember, this is a ship
full of guys. Who are They're just pagan sailors. They probably polytheistic.
They're all believing different images and gods and idols and different things like that.
But now they've seen this storm immediately stop. And in Jonah one sixteen,
when the sailors saw this happen, what immediately the raging sea calmed down.
When the sailors saw this happen, they were awe struck by God's greatness,
and they worshiped God, and they offered a sacrifice to God, and they
made vows. They made promises God, God, We're going your way from
now on. The whole ship is converted. Why because one guy who was
doing the wrong thing, the believer who was doing the wrong thing, gets
his life right. And all of a sudden, the non believers believe,
every one of you probably have a friend or a relative who doesn't know the
Lord. You got somebody in your family, maybe your parents, maybe a
brother or sister, maybe a spouse. Your husband doesn't know the Lord,
your wife doesn't know the Lord, or children. You've got family members,
relatives, You've got friends who don't know the Lord. Have you ever thought
that maybe you might be the barrier that the way you have been living has
actually kept them from coming to Christ because you haven't been all out. You've
had the foundation of Jesus Christ, but you've been building with wood, hay
and straw, and they haven't really seen that big of a difference in your
own life. And when you finally say God, I surrender to you one
hundred percent. I'm going with your mission, giving you everything I've got,
all of a sudden, the storm calms down, and all of a sudden
that loved one goes WHOA there is a God, and the storm is gone.
In the relationship, things calm down and they come to Christ. When
you start fulfilling your mission, people around you that you never thought would be
believers in God are Christ are going to come to Christ. It just happens
because all of a sudden they see that you are walking in calmness, not
in stress, not in a storm. And they go, WHOA, I
want that in my life. There's a third miracle. Third miracle. When
I do what God wants, things are going to calm down. When I
do what God wants, unbelievers are going to around me. You're going to
believe. Number three, this is a big one. When I accept my
mission, God shows me mercy. He doesn't scold me. He doesn't spank
me. He doesn't say it took you long enough. He doesn't say why
didn't you come sooner. He doesn't remonstrate or you know, castigate me.
He doesn't give me a lecture. When I finally say, okay, I
want what you want. God, I'm not being a very good God.
You be God in my life. God shows me mercy. The Bible says
verse seventeen, last verse of the chapter. Now the Lord prepared and we're
going to come back. That word prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was inside that great fish for three days a night. Now
that's a wail of a story. Friend. Okay, I've heard some long
tail fish stories, but that's a story. Okay. Now, first place
how many of you heard growing up that Jonah was swallowed by a whale?
Can I read it? Read it? Okay? Wrong? It doesn't say
whale. The word whale is in the Bible, but it's not in the
Book of Jonah. It doesn't say that a whale. It says God prepared
a great fish. In the first place. A whale isn't a fish.
Whales a mammal. Whales a mammal. It's not a fish. Now,
God could have used a whale if he wanted to, but it whales,
not a wales, a mammal. Now, they wouldn't have known that twenty
seven hundred years ago, but God knew it. And it said God prepared
a fish. Now, the word prepared, there's manna in Hebrew. It
literally means custom made. Okay, okay, It literally means assigned. It's
translated assigned. It's a translated appointed. It's translated ordained. This is the
word for ordained. It issues many times, and it says in chapter one,
God ordained to whale. In chapter four says God ordained to worm,
and in chapter it says God ordained to win. So evidently ordination isn't that
big a deal. God can ordain whales and worms, you know, are
fish and worms. But it just means God uniquely customized. If God,
Now, if you really believe that God created the universe, that he created
every fish in the ocean, he could create on one day a special fish
with air conditioning for Jonah. You don't have a problem. If God created
every fish in the sea already, and God created every living animal, you
don't have a problem. If God created the universe, you don't have a
problem with God preparing a fish for Jonah. So I'm just telling you it
doesn't say whale, all right, It just says God prepared a great fish.
By the way, scientists say, the one species this could have possibly
been is the greatest fish, the largest fish in the ocean. Not mammal,
not a mammal, but a fish. The largest fish in the ocean
is called a whale shark. It's actually it's not a whale. It's a
shark, but it's about the size of a whale, so they call it
a whale shark. They're very, very common. They're all around the world.
They're totally docile, they're gentle giants. They're totally harmless human beings.
Let me show you. This is a picture of a whale shark. Okay,
that's a forty footer right there. Now, notice that as the mouth
is open, they swim at about three miles per hour, very very slowly.
So divers often will grab onto the back of a whale shark and just
go for a ride because they're that gentle. But they swim with their mouth
open because they are filter feeders, which means they eat microorganisms, so they
don't chew. They don't tear anything up with big teeth like other sharks do.
They're filter feeders, so't they don't really even need tee because they're only
taking micro nutrients in their mouths. Are pretty big as you can see,
and they're they're gentle giants. They're totally harmless around humans, and they're all
around the world. Let me give you a comparison between a typical whale shark
and an eighty passenger school bus. Okay, they're both of those are forty
feet long. So this a school bus can hold eighty kids, so could
a whale shark. Okay, they're they're literally that big. This last picture
is actually Jonah about to be swallowed. I got that right from God.
Okay, he just sent it down yesterday by email. It's God dot com.
And no, that's actually that's actually a snorkeler off the coast of Mexico.
They're they're in, you know, around so anyway, that's you know,
scientists say it could have been that. Here's the problem. When people
get the story of Jonah, they're more in what's inside the whale then what's
inside Jonah. And I'm really more interested in what's inside you in your mission
and the lessons that God wants us to have. Do you know your life
mission? Are you completing it? One day it will be manifested. Everybody's
going to see how well you did on your mission, and you will either
be rewarded because you made your life count or you will not be rewarded because
you didn't and you wasted the life that God gave you that God puts you
on this planet. First, God is calling you to say yes to his
mission today. So the question is will you accept your life mission today?
Say? I don't even know what it is. Well, it's like write
in a blank check, sign a blank check, said God, anytime,
anywhere, anyway, anyhow, you made me, You put me on this
planet. So I'm here to do whatever you want me to do. I'm
all in Let's power heads for prayer? Would you pray? God? I
don't want to run from you anymore with their heads bout. Let me ask
you this question. What's your ninevah? What's your nina? What is it
that God has told you to do? You still haven't done, and you
know he's told you to do it, but you're running from it. What's
your nineveh? If you will say, God, I want to fulfill your
mission for my life, He's going to show you from his word, say
help me to get into your word to know my mission. Lord, I
know that it's going to take a step of faith. It may feel a
little uncomfortable, may even feel a little scary at first, but I know
you want to use me to help somebody else somehow. Lord, I don't
want my life going downhill when I run from you. I don't want to
pay the price of running from you. I don't want to have an opposing
win against me, and I certainly don't want other people getting hurt because of
me. But Lord, I know it's true that the longer I run,
the worse it gets. And I have to admit, Father, there have
been times in my life where it felt out of control and I couldn't turn
it around. But I just tried harder and harder doesn't work. Say God,
I want these three miracles in my life. That when I do what
you want me to do, things will calm down. That when I do
what you want me to do, unbelievers will around me will believe, And
that when I do what you want me to do, when I accept my
mission, You're going to show me mercy. Thank you. Thank you for
never stopping to love me. Thank you that you've been patient with me.
And today I'm saying to you, I'm all in. I want to fulfill
my mission. Whether I've got five years or fifty years left. Jesus Christ,
come into my life and fill my life with your love. I want
to love you and trust you, and I want to know God's purpose for
my life. I humbly ask this in your name. Amen. Hi,
everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast. You know,
if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time, or you
just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let me know about
it? There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me Rick at
pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment.
I gave my life to Christ. And I'll send you some material that
will help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.
God bless you. I don't know about you, but I am encouraged
after that message. And let's keep the encouragement going with a let from one
of our listeners. Here's Rick. You know, I really enjoy getting letters
from you, and i'd like to thank each of you who've taken the time
to write me. Your letters and your emails really do encourage me. In
fact, let me just read one from a listener that I can share with
you. It says this, Dear Pastor Rick, I'm a suburban public school
teacher who works in the district with a great socioeconomic and ethnic divide. I
love the diversity of my student population, but at the same time, these
high school students arrive with all kinds of religious and moral values, which of
course impacts their relationships with others. Daily hope always gives me the compass I
need to guide my day. I like how your messages encourage respecting cultural differences
while maintaining the truth. I think it's important to foster relationships with others in
the name of Jesus, Pastor Rick. I listen to Daily Hope on my
thirty five minute drive to work, and although I can't mention God or Jesus
in school, students are allowed to initiate that discussion with me. So I'm
refreshed and equipped daily because of your messages. Thanks for the broadcast. I
look forward to it every day, sincerely, Amy. Well, thanks for
writing. Amy. Keep up the good work with your students, and I'm
glad that Daily Hope is encouraging and equipping you in the calling that God has
called you to do. And I want you to know I'm going to be
praying for you because you wrote to me. To the rest of you,
I just want to say, Jesus is able to reach every person because he
came to save all people. Jesus came for every tribe and every nation and
every culture on earth. In fact, the Bible says in Revelation seventy nine
that one day in heaven that every tribe, every nation, every people in
every ethnic group will be clothed in robes, standing before the Throne of God,
praising God in that day. That's why it's so important to share this
good news with not just our kind of people, but with every kind of
people. I tell people about Daily Hope all the time, whether it's somebody
I know or even just a casual conversation, because I know when they listen,
they're going to be filled with hope and it will bless their lives.
It's really easy. Just go to pastorick dot com, click on the listen
tab. There you're going to find buttons where you can share the message by
email, social media, or WhatsApp. You can share Jesus by sharing Daily
Hope. That's pastorick dot com. We hope you'll join us next time when
we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by
Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.