Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we begin a series called
Speaker 1: Strategies for Stressful Times. In these lessons, Rick shares biblical
Speaker 1: wisdom for navigating difficult and stressful times so that you
Speaker 1: can experience God's peace and thrive in any situation. In
Speaker 1: just a few moments, we're going to tell you how
Speaker 1: you can get a beautifully illustrated devotional for children by
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick that will help them discover how much God
Speaker 1: loves them and that He has a special plan and
Speaker 1: purpose for their life. You can find out more by
Speaker 1: going to Pastorick dot com. While you listen to today's message,
Speaker 1: If you want, you can just text the word hope
Speaker 1: to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four for
Speaker 1: more information. That's the word hope to eight hundred six
Speaker 1: hundred five thousand and four. Wow. Here's Pastor Rick Warren
Speaker 1: with part one of a message called finding the Strength
Speaker 1: to keep going when I'm emotionally worn out.
Speaker 2: You know, because Daily Hope has heard on hundreds of
Speaker 2: radio stations around the world and on podcasts, I get
Speaker 2: a lot of letters every day. I want to read
Speaker 2: just one of them to start us off. In today's message,
Speaker 2: it said, Dear Pastor Rick, I listen to your message
Speaker 2: every day on Daily Hope program, so I thought i'd
Speaker 2: write and ask you to pray for me. With all
Speaker 2: that our world has been going through in the last
Speaker 2: year and a half, it seems that everybody I meet
Speaker 2: has run out of gas emotionally and relationally. Everybody seems
Speaker 2: to be going through the motions, but you can tell
Speaker 2: that their heart is not really in it. Everybody is
Speaker 2: tired and worn out. For me, personally, I don't know
Speaker 2: how much longer I can keep up with the new demands.
Speaker 2: I try to look energetic and I try to be positive,
Speaker 2: but honestly, I'm I'm ready to throw in the towel.
Speaker 2: I'm ready to give up on my career, my dreams,
Speaker 2: and even my marriage. What can I do to get
Speaker 2: my spark back? You know, you may or may not
Speaker 2: identify with that letter, But today I want us to
Speaker 2: look in God's word at finding the strength to keep going.
Speaker 2: Finding the strength to keep going when I'm emotionally worn out. Now,
Speaker 2: notice I'm not talking about when you're physically worn out.
Speaker 2: When you're physically tired, that's a much easier problem actually
Speaker 2: to solve. When you're physically tired, you just need rest
Speaker 2: and relaxation. You just get some time off and get
Speaker 2: some sleep. But sleep and rest alone will not cure
Speaker 2: the emotional fatigue, the spiritual fatigue, the relational fatigue that
Speaker 2: many people are feeling after the last year and a
Speaker 2: half of massive change in our lives. What you need
Speaker 2: is a strategy to recharge your spiritual and emotional battery.
Speaker 2: You know there's going to be many times in life
Speaker 2: when you need to keep going when your mind and
Speaker 2: your emotions have already shut down. They've shut down from
Speaker 2: emotional overload or from fatigue and just working too long
Speaker 2: and putting out too much time and helping too many people. Today,
Speaker 2: I want us to look at four solutions from God's
Speaker 2: word about how to keep on going when you feel
Speaker 2: like giving up. The Bible has a lot to say
Speaker 2: about developing the qualities of resilience and endurance and determination.
Speaker 2: But before we actually look at some secret steps or
Speaker 2: keys or principles, I want to give you two examples
Speaker 2: in Scripture of determination to keep going. One is Jesus
Speaker 2: and the other is the Apostle Paul. Let me just
Speaker 2: show you these two. They're there at the top of
Speaker 2: your outline if you're taking notes. The first is the
Speaker 2: determination of Jesus to keep going in spite of opposition.
Speaker 2: Jesus faced constant opposition in his ministry. Both the religious
Speaker 2: leaders and the political leaders were constantly trying to stop
Speaker 2: Jesus from teaching and ministering. They didn't want him doing this.
Speaker 2: He was too popular, and at one point they tried
Speaker 2: to intimidate Jesus to stop his ministry by telling him quote,
Speaker 2: King Herod wants to kill you. End quote. Now in
Speaker 2: Luke chapter thirteen, verse thirty two and thirty three, we
Speaker 2: find Jesus' response when they came and they're trying to
Speaker 2: intimidate Jesus and get him to stop doing, to stop
Speaker 2: keeping on keeping on. And here's what Jesus said. He said,
Speaker 2: I want you to go back to Herod. He called
Speaker 2: him that old fox, and he said, I want you
Speaker 2: to tell King Herod this. This is the verse on
Speaker 2: your outline. Quote I'm willing. I will keep on driving
Speaker 2: out demons. I will keep on driving out demons and
Speaker 2: healing people today and tomorrow and on the next day,
Speaker 2: and then I'll reach my goal in any case, Jesus says,
Speaker 2: I must keep going. Do you hear that I must
Speaker 2: keep going today and tomorrow and the next day. Jesus said,
Speaker 2: nothing's going to stop me, least of all a fear
Speaker 2: of somebody else or some kind of criticism or opposition.
Speaker 2: So Jesus had the quality of resilience and endurance and
Speaker 2: determination to keep on keeping on. The second example we
Speaker 2: have is the determination of Paul. And Paul was determined
Speaker 2: to keep going in spite of pain. We find that
Speaker 2: in Second Corinthians, chapter four, verses eight and nine. It's
Speaker 2: there on your outline, Paul says there in the New
Speaker 2: Living translation, we are hard pressed on every side by troubles.
Speaker 2: Does that sound familiar? Maybe you feel right now you're
Speaker 2: hard pressed on every side by troubles. In other words,
Speaker 2: it's coming at you from in any different directions. Paul says,
Speaker 2: we're hard pressed on many sides, every side by troubles,
Speaker 2: but we're not crushed and broken. And then he says
Speaker 2: we're perplexed. In other words, sometimes we're confused. We don't
Speaker 2: know which way to go. But he says, we don't
Speaker 2: give up and quit. That's determination. We don't give up
Speaker 2: and quit and then he says, we're hunted down, but
Speaker 2: God never abandons us. And he says, yes, we get
Speaker 2: knocked down, but we get up again and we keep going.
Speaker 2: Both Jesus and Paul use this phrase, how to keep going?
Speaker 2: How do you keep going? So? Where do I get
Speaker 2: the strength to keep going when I feel like I'm tired,
Speaker 2: I'm worn out, I don't have the emotional energy to
Speaker 2: keep doing. The answer is, you get the power and
Speaker 2: the strength to keep going the same place Jesus and
Speaker 2: Paul got it. You get it for God.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Rip will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional
Speaker 1: at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick says it's vitally important for children to understand
Speaker 3: that even before the universe was created, God had them
Speaker 3: in mind and that he has a special plan and
Speaker 3: purpose for their life. That's why he created The Purpose
Speaker 3: Driven Life devotional book for children. This inspirational resource uses
Speaker 3: the principles found in Pastor ricks life changing bestseller The
Speaker 3: Purpose Driven Life, but delivers them as one hundred devotions
Speaker 3: that speak directly to the daily challenges kids face and
Speaker 3: gives real world applications to help them discover their purpose.
Speaker 3: Paired with powerful scripture passages and engaging illustrations, young readers
Speaker 3: will thrive on the biblical wisdom that has helped millions
Speaker 3: of people throughout the world. We'll send you the Purpose
Speaker 3: Driven Life one hundred illustrated Devotions for Children today as
Speaker 3: our way of saying thanks for giving your gift to
Speaker 3: help daily hope take the hope of Jesus to people
Speaker 3: around the world. Be sure to get a copy for
Speaker 3: all of the children God is placed in your life, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews,
Speaker 3: and the kids in your neighborhood. They'll all be blessed
Speaker 3: by this amazing resource. Go to pastoric dot com right
Speaker 3: now to get your copy, or you can call eight
Speaker 3: hundred at six hundred five zero zero four. That's Pastoric
Speaker 3: dot com. Or call eight hundred six hundred at five
Speaker 3: zero zero four. Thank you so much for your support,
Speaker 3: and don't forget to let us know which radio station
Speaker 3: you heard us on. Today is the last day to
Speaker 3: get this great resource, so don't wait.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Back to more from God's word with pastor Reis Waring.
Speaker 2: So where do I get the strength to keep going
Speaker 2: when I feel like I'm tired, I'm worn out, I
Speaker 2: don't have the emotional energy to keep doing the answer is,
Speaker 2: you get the power and the strength to keep going,
Speaker 2: the same place Jesus and Paul got it. You get
Speaker 2: it from God. But that's just the simple answer. There
Speaker 2: are actually some key actions for four key actions and
Speaker 2: attitudes that you're going to need to make it to
Speaker 2: your finish line to have the strength to keep on
Speaker 2: keeping on in the things you know God wants you
Speaker 2: to do when you feel like giving up. Now, let's
Speaker 2: get right into it. The first key to daily strength,
Speaker 2: the daily strength that you're going to need to keep
Speaker 2: going in a time of crisis or conflict or chronic stress.
Speaker 2: The first key to daily strength that you need to
Speaker 2: keep going is this, write it down. Honestly tell God
Speaker 2: what I'm feeling. That's the starting point. You start with
Speaker 2: just being honest to God. Honestly tell God what I'm
Speaker 2: feeling right now. I'm running out of energy, I'm running
Speaker 2: out of gas. You don't tell him what you think
Speaker 2: you ought to feel. You admit what you're really feeling so,
Speaker 2: are you feeling frustrated? Then tell God? Are you feeling exhausted?
Speaker 2: Then tell that to him. Do you feel like you
Speaker 2: can't go on like this? Tell him you feel like
Speaker 2: you're under attack. Tell God you feel like you're discouraged.
Speaker 2: Tell God you feel overwhelmed. Tell God you just go
Speaker 2: ahead and dump everything you're feeling right now on the Lord.
Speaker 2: He said, Can I actually do that? Well? The Bible
Speaker 2: says it one Peter five seven, New Jerusalem Translation says this,
Speaker 2: unload all your burdens on him, since he is concerned
Speaker 2: about you. I love that. Unload. Unload That word In
Speaker 2: the Greek, which the Bible is originally written in the
Speaker 2: word unload means literally drop it. That's what it means,
Speaker 2: you let it go. It's not like you're throwing at
Speaker 2: a long distance. It's like if you're carrying a big boulder.
Speaker 2: You just let it go, You dump it, You unburden yourself.
Speaker 2: The Bible says that when you feel like you're overstressed,
Speaker 2: you're over worried, you're overburdened, you just let it go.
Speaker 2: Now he's how does that? How do you do that?
Speaker 2: By being honest to God? Now? Sometimes it's intimidating being
Speaker 2: honest to God. We kind of pretend like we God
Speaker 2: doesn't really know everything in our lives. If you're going
Speaker 2: to be truly honest to God, you need to remember
Speaker 2: three facts. Okay. Number one, God already knows every emotion
Speaker 2: I feel. Write that down. God already knows every emotion
Speaker 2: I feel. The Bible says in Proverbs thirty three excuse me,
Speaker 2: Psalm thirty three, verse, the Lord gave each of us
Speaker 2: our mind, so nothing we can do can be hidden
Speaker 2: from him. Well, of course, since God created your mind,
Speaker 2: obviously he can read it, so nothing can be hidden
Speaker 2: from God. So you're not ever going to surprise him.
Speaker 2: And when you start telling God exactly how you feel
Speaker 2: right now, he's never going to say, Wow, I didn't
Speaker 2: know that. I didn't know you felt that way. That's
Speaker 2: a surprise to me. Golly. Now get this, When I
Speaker 2: confess my feelings to God, it's not for God's benefit.
Speaker 2: It's always for my benefit because God already knows. So
Speaker 2: why does God want me to unburden? Why does he
Speaker 2: want me to unload? Why does he want me to
Speaker 2: confess to admit to just tell him the stress that
Speaker 2: I'm under it's for my benefit when you talk it
Speaker 2: out to God. When you tell God it relieves a
Speaker 2: lot of unconscious tension and a lot of internal conflict
Speaker 2: and stress in your life. Now, that's just the first
Speaker 2: thing you have to remember. God not only knows everything
Speaker 2: I'm feeling before I even mention it. The second thing
Speaker 2: is God understands my feelings better than I do. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you have the feelings, but God understands them better than
Speaker 2: you do. First Chronicles, chapter twenty eight, verse nine says
Speaker 2: this in the New Century version, the Lord knows what's
Speaker 2: in everybody's mind, and he understands circle that He understands
Speaker 2: everything you think. Now, I certainly don't understand everything I think.
Speaker 2: I doubt you understand everything you think. A lot of
Speaker 2: times we have thoughts, We go, where did that come from?
Speaker 2: What does that mean? Why did I think it? When
Speaker 2: you have an emotion, a lot of times you go,
Speaker 2: where did that come from? Why do I feel this way?
Speaker 2: We don't always understand, but God always understands your emotions.
Speaker 2: Why well, because He gave to you. You See, the
Speaker 2: only reason you have emotions is because you're made in
Speaker 2: God's image. God is an emotional God. The Bible says,
Speaker 2: God gets jealous, he gets angry, he gets sad. The
Speaker 2: Bible said, God laughs. All these emotions are appropriate in
Speaker 2: their right place. God is an emotional God, and the
Speaker 2: only reason you have emotions is because you're made in
Speaker 2: God's image. Horses don't get jealous, ants don't get sad.
Speaker 2: Every emotion you have is God given. Now, as I said,
Speaker 2: they can be misused. Your emotions can be abused. Your
Speaker 2: emotions can be used inappropriately to hurt people and to
Speaker 2: harm people, like every other gift of God. But your
Speaker 2: ability to feel emotions is actually part of being human.
Speaker 2: So your reticence to tell God what you're feeling really
Speaker 2: is kind of dumb, because number one, God already knows
Speaker 2: what you're feeling, and number two, he understands you're feeling
Speaker 2: better than you do. Third fact, you need to realize
Speaker 2: and remembers this. God loves to listen to me. Write
Speaker 2: that down. God loves to listen to me. Did you
Speaker 2: know that? In Psalm one sixteen, verses one and two
Speaker 2: today's English version, David says this, I love the Lord.
Speaker 2: He says, I love the Lord because he listens. He
Speaker 2: listens to my prayers. He listens to me every time
Speaker 2: I call to him. God is a listening God. And
Speaker 2: that's a third reason why you should tell God exactly
Speaker 2: what you're feeling every day. God is never too busy
Speaker 2: for a conversation with you. You get too busy for a
Speaker 2: conversation with him, but He is never too busy for
Speaker 2: a conversation with you. God has an unlimited data plan. Okay,
Speaker 2: he doesn't have call waiting, he doesn't have a recording.
Speaker 2: Say push two if you want the Holy Spirit, push
Speaker 2: three if you want to talk to Jesus Now. He
Speaker 2: doesn't have attention deficit and go what was what were
Speaker 2: you talking about? Can you say that again? God is
Speaker 2: always attentive and he's always ready to have a conversation.
Speaker 2: You see. The truth is God is always waiting on
Speaker 2: you to talk. God is never gonna say not now,
Speaker 2: I can't talk about it. I'm busy. Can you talk
Speaker 2: to me a little bit later about this? No, God
Speaker 2: is waiting to talk to you. He said, Well, what
Speaker 2: about when I'm just complaining? He still listens. Did you
Speaker 2: know that the Bible says that God listens to your
Speaker 2: complaint when you complain? He says, God is listening that's
Speaker 2: a prayer. Can a prayer be a complaint? Yeah? A
Speaker 2: lot of the psalms are complaints of David. In Psalm
Speaker 2: fifty five, verse seventeen, David says, this morning, noon, and night,
Speaker 2: I complain of my distress, and still the Lord hears
Speaker 2: my voice. Now listen to me. God can handle your complaints.
Speaker 2: He can handle your frustrations. He can handle your doubts. God,
Speaker 2: I doubt this. He can handle your fears. He's not
Speaker 2: going to be upset with you on that. He can
Speaker 2: handle your questions. He can handle your grief. He can
Speaker 2: handle your discouragement. He can handle your struggles, your depression. Why,
Speaker 2: because He made you to love you. You can't make
Speaker 2: God stop loving you. You can try, but you'll fail
Speaker 2: because God's love is based on who he is. Psalm
Speaker 2: one three, verse thirteen says this the Lord is like
Speaker 2: a father to his children, tender and compassionate. I love
Speaker 2: that verse. You know why, because as a father, I
Speaker 2: love it when my kids, who are now adults. I
Speaker 2: love it when my kids want to talk to me
Speaker 2: about anything. But I especially love it when they want
Speaker 2: to talk to me about their feelings and telling me
Speaker 2: what's going on in their heart, and God loves that too.
Speaker 2: When you are honestly free with telling God how you
Speaker 2: really feel, you tell God what's really on your heart.
Speaker 2: Someone forty five, verse nine says this on the screen.
Speaker 2: The Lord is good to everyone, and he shows compassion
Speaker 2: to all he has made. Did you get that? The
Speaker 2: Lord is good to everyone. He shows good things to everybody,
Speaker 2: even those who are atheists who don't believe in him,
Speaker 2: or whatever, who are rejecting him, who are mad at him.
Speaker 2: The Lord is good to everyone, and he shows compassion
Speaker 2: to all he has made. By the way, if God
Speaker 2: is good to everybody and he shows compassion to all
Speaker 2: he's made, shouldn't you and I do the same with
Speaker 2: people we disagree with? Do you show compassion to people
Speaker 2: you disagree with? Are you good to people who you
Speaker 2: think are an enemy? God is good to everyone and
Speaker 2: compassionate with everyone. Now, because God knows every feeling you
Speaker 2: already have. And God understands every feeling, and he knows
Speaker 2: better than you do. And God loves to listen to
Speaker 2: us and even our complaints about stress and everything else
Speaker 2: and change, and he's always listening. Then God tells us
Speaker 2: to come quickly to him.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy
Speaker 1: you've chosen to study along with us today. You know
Speaker 1: you can get hope and encouragement from Pastor Rick delivered
Speaker 1: to your inbox every day. Just go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com and sign up for his free daily devotional. Rick
Speaker 1: will be right back to close out our time today.
Speaker 1: But first, Pastor Rick says it's vitally important for children
Speaker 1: to understand that even before the universe was created, God
Speaker 1: had them in mind, and that he has a special
Speaker 1: plan and purpose for their life. That's why he created
Speaker 1: The Purpose Driven Life devote book for children. This inspirational
Speaker 1: resource uses the principles found in Pastor Rick's life changing
Speaker 1: bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, but delivers them as one
Speaker 1: hundred devotions that speak directly to the daily challenges kids
Speaker 1: face and gives real world applications to help them discover
Speaker 1: their purpose. Paired with powerful scripture passages and engaging illustrations,
Speaker 1: young readers will thrive on the biblical wisdom that has
Speaker 1: helped millions of people throughout the world. We'll send you
Speaker 1: The Purpose Driven Life one hundred illustrated Devotions for Children
Speaker 1: today as our way of saying thanks for your gift
Speaker 1: to help Daily Hope take the Hope of Jesus to
Speaker 1: people around the world. Be sure to get a copy
Speaker 1: for all the children God has placed in your life, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews,
Speaker 1: and the kids in your neighborhood. They'll all be blessed
Speaker 1: by this amazing resourced Pastorick dot com. Right now to
Speaker 1: get your copy, that's Pastorick dot com, or you can
Speaker 1: call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Today is
Speaker 1: the last day to get this great resource, so don't wait.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your support, and don't forget
Speaker 1: to tell us you listen to Daily Hope on the radio.
Speaker 1: Here's Pastor Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.
Speaker 2: Friends, here's an incredible testimony from a woman named Amy
Speaker 2: in Indiana about how she used a Daily Hope devotional
Speaker 2: to lead her own son to Christ. You could do
Speaker 2: this too. Here's what she wrote. Dear Pastor Rick, I've
Speaker 2: been carrying a burden this past month for my fifteen
Speaker 2: year old son who had not accepted Christ. But last
Speaker 2: night was the night I finally went into his room,
Speaker 2: and I asked him and he told me no, that
Speaker 2: he hadn't accepted Christ as as Lord and Savior. So
Speaker 2: then I asked if he would like to and he
Speaker 2: said yes. Well, I had him read the Prayer of
Speaker 2: a Salvation attached to the Daily Hope devotional, and then
Speaker 2: I prayed with him and I prayed for him. Wow, Amy,
Speaker 2: what an incredible, precious moment that you were able to
Speaker 2: lead your son to Jesus. It's the most important thing
Speaker 2: you'll ever do as a parent. And I'm so blessed
Speaker 2: to hear your testimony, and I hope it encourages every
Speaker 2: other parent to be faithful like that. I want to
Speaker 2: just pray for you and your son right now. You're Jesus.
Speaker 2: I want to thank you for caring so much that
Speaker 2: you made a way for us to become a part
Speaker 2: of your family so that we can join you in
Speaker 2: heaven one day. And thank you for giving Amy the
Speaker 2: courage to ask the question. Thank you for giving her
Speaker 2: the courage to talk to her son about you. And
Speaker 2: we're so grateful that he's accepted you into his heart.
Speaker 2: Now we ask you to give him a receptive heart
Speaker 2: and help them to get into God's word on a
Speaker 2: daily basis. We know that's the way he's going to grow.
Speaker 2: So thank you Lord for Amy's obedience and Jesus. Right now,
Speaker 2: I'm praying for more and more people to do what
Speaker 2: Amy did, to have the courage to step out and
Speaker 2: share their faith with a friend, a neighbor, a loved
Speaker 2: one who doesn't know you yet. I'm praying that you
Speaker 2: will give them just the right words and just the
Speaker 2: right time to share just the right message of your
Speaker 2: salvation in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, my friends, there is
Speaker 2: nothing more important you can do than lead somebody to
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Your life can never be considered a failure.
Speaker 2: If somebody is going to be in heaven because of you, youths,
Speaker 2: help them settle their eternal destiny. Fact, that's why Daily
Speaker 2: Hope exists. It's simply one more method to help you
Speaker 2: tell more and more people about the forgiveness and the
Speaker 2: hope and the salvation and the love and the joy
Speaker 2: that's found in Jesus Christ. Through Daily Hope, we can
Speaker 2: work together to help other moms and dads like Amy
Speaker 2: and others reach their sons and their daughters for Jesus Christ. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm always grateful for your prayers, and I'm always grateful
Speaker 2: for your financial support. But you may ask how important
Speaker 2: is your donation to Daily Hope Ministry. Just ask Amy,
Speaker 2: She's got a son who's going to be in heaven
Speaker 2: because you gave. Thank you, everybody.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to bless Pastor rig by letting him
Speaker 1: know how much this broadcast has helped you, please send
Speaker 1: him an email at Rick at pastor Rick dot com.
Speaker 1: That's Rick at pastor rick dot com. Be sure to
Speaker 1: join us next time as we look into God's word
Speaker 1: for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support