Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in our series
Speaker 1: called Strategies for Stressful Times. In these lessons, Rick SHARE's
Speaker 1: biblical wisdom for navigating difficult and stressful times so that
Speaker 1: you can experience God's peace and thrive in any situation.
Speaker 1: But before we get started, we want to let you
Speaker 1: know that very generous friends of the ministry are offering
Speaker 1: a one hundred thousand dollars matching grand That means every
Speaker 1: dollar you give right now to help Daily Hope share
Speaker 1: the Hope of Jesus around the world will be matched
Speaker 1: up to one hundred thousand dollars, making your gift go
Speaker 1: twice as far. You can find out more by going
Speaker 1: to Pastorick dot com or by texting the word Hope
Speaker 1: to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Now
Speaker 1: here's Pastor Rick Warren with part two of a message
Speaker 1: called how to trust God when you don't like the
Speaker 1: changes in your life.
Speaker 2: Now here's the fourth thing you need to remember. Write
Speaker 2: this down. God can use even human error and sin.
Speaker 2: God can use even human error and sin. I'm talking
Speaker 2: about when you are the innocent victim of somebody else's
Speaker 2: bad decision. My family isn't what it used to because
Speaker 2: my husband broke it up and left me, or my
Speaker 2: wife left me. Whatever God can use, even human error
Speaker 2: and the sins of other people, not even just my own,
Speaker 2: for the good in he can bring good in my
Speaker 2: life in his plan to grow your character and make
Speaker 2: you like Jesus. Do you remember the story of Joseph.
Speaker 2: Remember the story of Joseph. How his brothers were jealous
Speaker 2: because he was the favorite son, and so his brothers
Speaker 2: sold Joseph into slavery, and he's taken to Egypt, and
Speaker 2: for the first forty years of his life, everything goes wrong.
Speaker 2: He's falsely accused of rape, he's sold into slavery, he's
Speaker 2: thrown in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and
Speaker 2: sitting in a foreign jail forty years later, he's gone
Speaker 2: nothing has gone right in my life so far. First
Speaker 2: forty years, his whole life's downhill. But God had put
Speaker 2: Joseph exactly where he wanted him to be, and a
Speaker 2: series of God's circumstances, Joseph is raised up to become
Speaker 2: the second most powerful leader in the most powerful nation
Speaker 2: in the world. At that time, which is Egypt in
Speaker 2: the Age of the Pyramids. And when Joseph later and
Speaker 2: he actually saves two countries from famine, he saves Egypt,
Speaker 2: and he saves his from famine because of his wisdom.
Speaker 2: But it didn't look like things were going good in
Speaker 2: his life for a long long time. One day, though,
Speaker 2: he finally has his brothers come to meet him, and
Speaker 2: he confronts his brothers, the guys who had sold him
Speaker 2: into slavery in the first forty years of nothing going
Speaker 2: right in his life, and what was Joseph's attitude. He
Speaker 2: treats them with grace, not bitterness. Why well, Genesis fifty
Speaker 2: tells us his perspective that God can use even human
Speaker 2: error and sin for good. And Joseph says in Genesis
Speaker 2: fifty twenty, you talking to his brothers, you intended to
Speaker 2: harm me, but God, that's the most important thing. But
Speaker 2: God intended it for good. To accomplish what is now
Speaker 2: being done, the saving of many lives. Two entire nations
Speaker 2: were saved. So out of the sin of his brothers,
Speaker 2: two nations got saved from famine and destruction. You intended
Speaker 2: to harm me, but God intended for good. Friends, I'll
Speaker 2: be honest with you. There are people in your life
Speaker 2: who intend bad. You will face people in your life,
Speaker 2: people who resent you at work, they're in competition with you,
Speaker 2: they're critical of you, they don't like you, or whatever.
Speaker 2: They intend to hurt you. They intended for bad, but
Speaker 2: God intends it for good. And so God can even
Speaker 2: use human error and sin in all the circumstances of life.
Speaker 2: You know, here at Saddleback, we all know the story
Speaker 2: of how God brought good even out of Danny Dushane's
Speaker 2: life in prison. How he went to prison for a
Speaker 2: double murder and was spending all his years in prison,
Speaker 2: was in there nearly thirty years. But he came to
Speaker 2: the Lord and he lived for God. And today Danny
Speaker 2: is a pastor of Saddleback and ministers to prisoners all
Speaker 2: over America. That's grace. That's grace, and that's the kind
Speaker 2: of church we are. It doesn't matter what your background is.
Speaker 2: I don't care what you've done, how badly you've done it,
Speaker 2: or who you did it with, or how long he
Speaker 2: did it. What matters is the direction of your feet today.
Speaker 2: That's all it matters. All right. Now, here's the fifth
Speaker 2: truth that you need to remember when we're going through
Speaker 2: changes we don't like. It's unavoidable, but God uses it
Speaker 2: for good and he wants to make me like Christ.
Speaker 2: And even he can use the bad things that other
Speaker 2: people do in my life that spread the problems to
Speaker 2: me that I didn't ask for. Number five, Every change
Speaker 2: is always a test of my faith. Write that down.
Speaker 2: Every change in your life is always a test of
Speaker 2: your faith. One Peter, Chapter one, verse seven says this
Speaker 2: the purpose of these troubles, all the ones you're in
Speaker 2: right now, the ones we've been facing for eighteen months.
Speaker 2: The purpose of these troubles is to test your faith.
Speaker 2: Circle that as fire test how genuine gold is. Your
Speaker 2: faith is more precious than gold. And by passing the test,
Speaker 2: it gives praise and glory and honor to God.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick 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: Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or
Speaker 3: what on earth are you here for? Pastor Rick says,
Speaker 3: God has a good plan and purpose for your life,
Speaker 3: and then his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 3: he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your
Speaker 3: spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. As
Speaker 3: you go through this book, you'll discover that real meaning
Speaker 3: and significance come from understanding and fulfilling God's purpose for
Speaker 3: you here on earth, and how living out the purpose
Speaker 3: you are created for moves you beyond mere survival and
Speaker 3: success to a life of significance, the life you were
Speaker 3: meant to live. For a limited time, we are offering
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Speaker 3: Purpose Driven Life with a beautiful leather cover today as
Speaker 3: a thank you for your gift to help take the
Speaker 3: Hope of Jesus to people around the world through Daily Hope.
Speaker 3: There's only two days left to get this great resource,
Speaker 3: so don't wait. Visit Pastorick dot com or call eight
Speaker 3: hundred six hundred five zero zero four to get your
Speaker 3: special edition of The Purpose Driven Life with a beautiful
Speaker 3: leather cover and all this month, any gift you give
Speaker 3: will be matched by very generous friends up to one
Speaker 3: hundred thousand dollars. This matching grand is only available until
Speaker 3: midnight December thirty first, So please contact us today again.
Speaker 3: That's Pastor Rick dot com or call eight hundred at
Speaker 3: six hundred eight at five zero zero four. Thank you
Speaker 3: so much for your support, and don't forget to tell
Speaker 3: us that you listen to Daily Hope on the radio.
Speaker 1: And now here's Pastor Rick Warren with the second half
Speaker 1: of today's lesson.
Speaker 2: Having faith during a time of change is like a
Speaker 2: trapeze act and a trappeze artist. You've all seen it,
Speaker 2: and the circus of stuff trapez ares swings out on
Speaker 2: one bar. The other one comes from the other direction,
Speaker 2: and at one point they let go of this bar
Speaker 2: and then grab on to that one and swing across
Speaker 2: to the other side. At some point in that trapeeze
Speaker 2: ourist you have to let go of this one in
Speaker 2: order to jump over and grab the other one. And
Speaker 2: at that point you're hanging suspending in space with nothing
Speaker 2: holding you up. That is the moment of faith in
Speaker 2: your life. But when you grab onto that it'll take
Speaker 2: you to the other side. If you don't take that risk,
Speaker 2: if you don't step out in faith, you'll get out
Speaker 2: there and you go, I'm afraid to do that. Then
Speaker 2: you swing back here, and you swing back here, swing
Speaker 2: back here, swing back here. Pretty soon you're dead, sinner,
Speaker 2: and there's only one way out, straight down. You gotta
Speaker 2: let it go. You gotta stop wishing for the good
Speaker 2: old days. They're not coming back. Besides that, the good
Speaker 2: old days weren't as good as you think they were.
Speaker 2: There were problems then too, and pressures and struggles then too.
Speaker 2: Now before we look at what God says to do,
Speaker 2: and we're gonna look at that now in a time
Speaker 2: of change. I want you to consider how these five
Speaker 2: truths apply to your life. Okay, so let's look at
Speaker 2: them again. Number one, change is unavoidable. Are you going
Speaker 2: to just stop complaining and gripe in and going I
Speaker 2: wish it were like eighteen months ago or whenever your
Speaker 2: golden days were. They're not coming back. It's unavoidable, and
Speaker 2: you're just gonna make yourself miserable. Looking in the past.
Speaker 2: It's like looking in the past like trying to drive,
Speaker 2: looking in the rear view mirror. You're gonna crash, but
Speaker 2: you need to remember you say, God, I believe you're
Speaker 2: going to use all of this, even the stuff I
Speaker 2: don't like, the changes I don't like, You're going to
Speaker 2: use it for good in my life. Okay. And I
Speaker 2: know that you want to work on my character. You're
Speaker 2: more interested in my character than my comfort. So make
Speaker 2: me like Christ. Help me be more patient, help me
Speaker 2: be more loving, help me be more at peace, help
Speaker 2: me be more faithful, Help me to have more self control,
Speaker 2: all those nine qualities. And then though people who've hurt
Speaker 2: you are how society that has hurt you over the past,
Speaker 2: you just got to go Okay, they intended it for bad,
Speaker 2: but God can use it for good in my life.
Speaker 2: And then to realize that everything in my life that happens,
Speaker 2: every change, is a test of faith. Now, let me
Speaker 2: give you five things you gotta do. These are action steps.
Speaker 2: How can I trust God when I'm stressed by all
Speaker 2: the changes in my life? All right? Number one, these
Speaker 2: are very practical. Invest more time alone with God. If
Speaker 2: you don't get anything else, ie, do you I want
Speaker 2: you to say, I want you to get this this weekend.
Speaker 2: Invest more time alone with God. Listen. The greater the
Speaker 2: changes that happen in your life, the more you need
Speaker 2: to invest time alone. Time alone with God. We're talking
Speaker 2: about your quiet time where you read a little bit
Speaker 2: of the Bible and you talk to God in prayer
Speaker 2: and you just be quiet and say God, is there
Speaker 2: anything you want to say to me? Time alone with
Speaker 2: God is the great stabilizer in your life when you're
Speaker 2: stressed out. It's also the greatest re energizer when you're
Speaker 2: worn out. It's the greatest re energizer of energy. Now,
Speaker 2: have you, guys, noticed that you don't have as much
Speaker 2: energy as you did eighteen months ago. You don't because
Speaker 2: chronic stress is draining it out of you every single day.
Speaker 2: All of the changes that we've seen in our personal lives,
Speaker 2: in our church, in our families, in the world, in
Speaker 2: our jobs, all those changes sap your strength. They're like
Speaker 2: pulling it out of you constantly. So the fatigue that
Speaker 2: you're feeling, okay, it's natural. Welcome to the club, Welcome
Speaker 2: to the human race. You get up in the morning
Speaker 2: and you have a good night's sleep and a couple
Speaker 2: hours under the day, you going, man, I'm exhausted. Welcome
Speaker 2: to the club. That's called chronic stress, and it's very
Speaker 2: normal under prolonged change like we've been through. And so
Speaker 2: you're just trying to get by now when I'm talking
Speaker 2: about this lack of energy that you've got, everything's everything's
Speaker 2: harder for you to do than it was two years ago.
Speaker 2: That you're just trying to get by. This has nothing
Speaker 2: or little to do with your age, because both young
Speaker 2: people and older people are feeling this right now. What's
Speaker 2: the antidote? Isaiah chapter forty, verses twenty eight to thirty
Speaker 2: one says, this new living translation, don't you know that
Speaker 2: the Lord is the everlasting God, and he created everything
Speaker 2: on this earth. Now, that took a lot of energy
Speaker 2: to create everything on this earth and on the planets
Speaker 2: and in the International Space Station and everywhere everything anyway,
Speaker 2: it says, and he never grows tired or weary. God
Speaker 2: never gets tired. He said, what about what it says
Speaker 2: after the six days of creation, he rested. He's just
Speaker 2: doing that to model it for human beings. He wanted
Speaker 2: to create the Sabbath. God does not get tired, he
Speaker 2: doesn't get worn out. So it says he never grows
Speaker 2: tired to weary, which means the more time he's spend
Speaker 2: with him, the more it's going to energize you. He
Speaker 2: never grows tired to weary. Instead, he gives strength to
Speaker 2: those who are weary that's you, and worn out, that's you.
Speaker 2: And he gives power to the weak, that's you. Even
Speaker 2: young people become exhausted and want to give up. Millennials
Speaker 2: gen Z, they're tired too. Even young people become exhausted
Speaker 2: and want to give up. But those who trust and
Speaker 2: wait on the Lord will find new strength, flying high
Speaker 2: like eagles, and they'll run and not grow weary, and
Speaker 2: they'll keep going and not f ain't. So here's the point.
Speaker 2: When you are stressed by constant, continual major changes like
Speaker 2: you're going through right now, don't seek a quick fix.
Speaker 2: It's not in what you drink or the drug you
Speaker 2: take or what you smoke. It's not a quick fix.
Speaker 2: Don't look for an escape, don't look for a short cut.
Speaker 2: Don't fight changes that you can't possibly control. Instead, seek
Speaker 2: the Lord. Seek the Lord on a daily base. God,
Speaker 2: I'm plugging in on my battery is empty. I need recharging.
Speaker 2: Your quiet time is more important to you right now
Speaker 2: than it ever has been in your entire life. Get
Speaker 2: back to it. Make sure that if anything happens, every
Speaker 2: day you spend time alone with God. Whether anything else
Speaker 2: gets done in your life, you make sure that happens.
Speaker 2: That's the first key to trusting God. When you're stressed
Speaker 2: by change, invest more time alone with God. Number two,
Speaker 2: Ask God, this is what you do in that time.
Speaker 2: Ask God to help me see his perspective. In that
Speaker 2: time alone with God, as you're reading and praying, reading
Speaker 2: the Bible and praying, say God, help me to see
Speaker 2: everything going on around me from your perspective, not the
Speaker 2: way I see it, not the way the world sees it,
Speaker 2: but from your perspective you see. If you can begin
Speaker 2: to see all the changes that are going on in
Speaker 2: the world and in your life, and in our church
Speaker 2: and in community and in society, you can see them
Speaker 2: all from God's point of view, You're gonna be a
Speaker 2: whole lot You're gonna feel a whole lot better, and
Speaker 2: you're gonna be a whole lot less stressed. What I'm
Speaker 2: talking about here, listen very closely. This is extremely important.
Speaker 2: What I'm talking is the difference between seeing everything that's
Speaker 2: going on in the world that's one thing and seeing
Speaker 2: how God is working through every that's going on in
Speaker 2: the world. That's a whole different story. This is the
Speaker 2: difference between having knowledge of everything that's going on in
Speaker 2: the world and having perspective of, oh, this is what
Speaker 2: God is doing. It is the difference between information and wisdom. Today, friends,
Speaker 2: we're overwhelmed with information. There's an information God. We're on
Speaker 2: information overload. There are unlimited channels, millions of channels for
Speaker 2: you to find out what's going on in the world.
Speaker 2: You don't need any more information in your life. You
Speaker 2: could turn off a few of those information channels. You'd
Speaker 2: actually be healthier. What's missing in your life is non
Speaker 2: information about the world. What's missing in your life is understanding.
Speaker 2: Anybody can be informed, but only wise people seek God's
Speaker 2: perspective on current events and go, God, help me to
Speaker 2: see this from your point, not from my political viewpoint,
Speaker 2: not from somebody else political viewpoint, not from that cultural viewpoint,
Speaker 2: not from that racial viewpoint, not from that religious viewpoint,
Speaker 2: but from your viewpoint. God. In the Bible, what separated Moses,
Speaker 2: one of the greatest leaders of all time, from the
Speaker 2: people of Israel. It's what I'm talking about here. The
Speaker 2: people had knowledge. Moses had perspective. The people could see
Speaker 2: what was going on. Moses knew why it was going on.
Speaker 2: During the exodus, everybody could see the current events. They
Speaker 2: saw Moses do the ten plagues in Egypt, and the
Speaker 2: Nile turns the blood and all the other plagues. They
Speaker 2: saw the Red Sea open when they got out there
Speaker 2: in the desert and there was no water. They saw
Speaker 2: God bring a fountain of water out of a rock,
Speaker 2: miracle after miracle. They saw the acts of God. They
Speaker 2: saw the deeds of God. They saw what was happening
Speaker 2: in current events. Only Moses understood God's reasons and his
Speaker 2: perspectives and his ways Psalm one oh three. The next
Speaker 2: verse Psalm one oh three, verse seven, on your outline,
Speaker 2: God let the people of Israel see his mighty actions,
Speaker 2: but he revealed his ways to Moses. Now, why am
Speaker 2: I teaching this to you? Because, friends, as your pastor
Speaker 2: who loves you, I want you to be better than
Speaker 2: everybody else. I want you to not just know what's
Speaker 2: going on in the world. I want you to understand
Speaker 2: the ways of God. You can get current information from
Speaker 2: any media source. That didn't make you better than anybody.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. For listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: We've got some incredible news to share with you. Very
Speaker 1: generous friends have given a one hundred thousand dollars matching
Speaker 1: grant to this ministry. That means all this month, every
Speaker 1: dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the transforming
Speaker 1: love of Jesus with people around the world will be
Speaker 1: matched up to one hundred thousand dollars. Here's Rick to
Speaker 1: tell you more.
Speaker 2: Let's be honest about this time of year. At the
Speaker 2: end of every year, there are so many ministries that
Speaker 2: ask for you to support them in the end of
Speaker 2: your giving. And you know what, we believe in every
Speaker 2: ministry that proclaims the name of Jesus, and we thank
Speaker 2: God for them. And I know it can be difficult
Speaker 2: to decide who to give to, So let me just
Speaker 2: give you some biblical foundations for giving, some simple guidelines
Speaker 2: for end of your giving. You might think of these
Speaker 2: three or four things. Number one, give to the ministry
Speaker 2: that God tells you to support. Go to God, pray
Speaker 2: to him, ask him, say God, who do you want
Speaker 2: me to support? And you know what I supp support
Speaker 2: you giving to whoever God tells you to give to.
Speaker 2: And if it's not Daily Hope, I still support you
Speaker 2: to give to who God tells you to give to,
Speaker 2: So pray and ask God. Second, never give when you
Speaker 2: feel pressured. The Bible says in Corinthians that we are
Speaker 2: to never give under pressure or compulsion or under guilt.
Speaker 2: So if you ever feel guilty about giving, don't give
Speaker 2: because God tells you in the Word not to give
Speaker 2: at that time. Give because you want to give, not
Speaker 2: out of guilt or pressure. Number three, give to where
Speaker 2: you support and believe in the goals of that particular ministry. Now,
Speaker 2: every ministry has different goals, you know the goals of
Speaker 2: Daily Hope. Our goal is ultimately to take the good News,
Speaker 2: the Gospel to the three thousand tribes left in the
Speaker 2: world that have no Bible, no believer, and no body
Speaker 2: of Christ, no church. This is the final frontier. That's
Speaker 2: our goal. It's called the Great Commission. Now, other churches
Speaker 2: and other ministries have other goals, and that's fine. Some
Speaker 2: only have the goal of just preaching in America. That's
Speaker 2: nothing wrong with that. But if you believe in and
Speaker 2: have a heart for going to the last, the least,
Speaker 2: and the loss, this would be a ministry you should
Speaker 2: consider supporting because I don't know others that are doing
Speaker 2: what we're doing, trying to go to these final three
Speaker 2: thousand tribes and then finally give where your gift will
Speaker 2: be multiplied. For instance, at the end of every year,
Speaker 2: there is a donor to Daily Hope who offers to
Speaker 2: give a matching grant to apply to any donation that
Speaker 2: we receive before the end of the year. Now, what
Speaker 2: this means is that for every dollar you're able to
Speaker 2: give this month the Daily Hope, it's going to be
Speaker 2: doubled that donor will match it. That multiplies your gift.
Speaker 2: Like the little boy who brought his loaves and fishes
Speaker 2: to Jesus, and Jesus read the five thousand. If you
Speaker 2: give twenty five dollars to Daily Hope this month, the
Speaker 2: matching grant will match it at twenty five dollars. If
Speaker 2: you're able to give one hundred dollars, the matching grant
Speaker 2: will at another one hundred dollars. That multiplies your gift.
Speaker 2: I would consider that as a factor in where to
Speaker 2: give during this month. Now let me just say this.
Speaker 2: If you can't help us financially, that's okay, I understand,
Speaker 2: but I would ask that you pray for us. I'm
Speaker 2: so grateful for those of you who are a financial
Speaker 2: supporter of this ministry that monthly giving, month after month.
Speaker 2: It means so much to me, it means much to God,
Speaker 2: but it means so much for eternity to those who
Speaker 2: are hearing the good news for the very first time.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't take any salary or any income
Speaker 2: from this ministry. I serve it for free, and so
Speaker 2: you and I are partners together in reaching people for
Speaker 2: Christ all around the world. In closing, let me just
Speaker 2: ask you to continue to pray, pray for me as
Speaker 2: I pray for you, and pray that God's word will
Speaker 2: be taught clearly with compassion, with clarity, with simplicity in
Speaker 2: this new year, and then it will not only help
Speaker 2: you as you listen to these broadcasts, but it will
Speaker 2: help us reach people for Christ and disciple believers and
Speaker 2: build churches all around the world, especially in the tribes
Speaker 2: that have never heard the name of Christ. Thanks for
Speaker 2: your generosity, thanks for your prayers, and God bless you.
Speaker 1: You can give right now by going to Pastorrick dot
Speaker 1: com or by calling eight hundred six hundred, five thousand
Speaker 1: and four We'll say thanks by sending you this special
Speaker 1: edition of the Purpose strip in Life with a beautiful
Speaker 1: leather cover. That's Pastorick dot com or call eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your support, and don't forget to tell us that
Speaker 1: you listen to Daily Hope on the radio. Be sure
Speaker 1: to join us next time as we look into God's
Speaker 1: word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support