WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:05.839 Hello everybody, this is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Thank you 2 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:09.000 so much for joining us today, and if you're brand new, 3 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.439 welcome to the Daily Hope family. We hope you'll enjoy 4 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.759 the teachings of Pastor Rick Warren right here. I'm so 5 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:18.800 excited for all of you to learn about your shape. 6 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.559 It might not be the shape you're thinking of right now. 7 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:27.640 Rick loves to use acrostics and this one is shape 8 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:34.320 your shape, your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experiences. 9 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:36.759 And one of the reasons I love this series and 10 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:39.560 have shared it with so many friends is because Rick 11 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.119 talks about the way God wired you and why you 12 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.439 need not just know your shape, but how to use 13 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:48.840 it to do the things that God designed. 14 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:48.960 You to do. 15 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:51.840 And now Rick shares with us part one of a 16 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.759 message called employing your Experience. 17 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:58.039 We've looked at five different ways that God wired you 18 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:03.039 uniquely to fulfill your per life. We use the acrostic shape. 19 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:07.040 He has gifted you with spiritual gifts s. What are 20 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:09.079 you gifted to do? He has given you a heart, 21 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.680 things you love to do, passions, interests. He's given you 22 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.239 natural abilities that you have been good at since the 23 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:19.799 moment you were born. He's given you a personality that's 24 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.359 different than all the others. And you are unique, and 25 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:27.079 there's nobody like you. And today we conclude with the 26 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.120 experiences of life, and how God wants you to use 27 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:34.319 the experiences of your life, good, bad and ugly for 28 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:38.400 His glory and for your own good. Now, the most 29 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.239 famous verse in the Bible about the experiences of life 30 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.319 is Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. Is there at 31 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:46.079 the top of your outline, Let me read it to you. 32 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:53.000 We know that in all things God works for the 33 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.040 good of those who love Him, who have been called 34 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:01.280 according to His purpose. Now, this is one of the 35 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:03.200 most famous verses of the Bible. It's also one of 36 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:08.000 the misused, misabused, and misunderstood versus in the Bible. Let 37 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.879 me tell you what it doesn't say. It doesn't say 38 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:12.919 that all things work out the way I want them to. 39 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:17.879 We know that's not true. It doesn't say that everything 40 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.919 has a happy ending on Earth. It doesn't. We live 41 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.840 in a broken planet. So what does it say. Well, 42 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:28.280 let me take it apart phrase by phrase. First, we 43 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:35.039 know not, we guess, we hope, we wish, we pray for, 44 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.960 we want, we no, we know We know this for 45 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:42.240 a fact of life, as sure as the sun's going 46 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:45.599 to come up tomorrow morning. We know this for certain. 47 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:53.800 What do we know? We know that in all things? Now, 48 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:59.080 what's included in the word all? Huh Yeah. The original 49 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:03.919 meaning of the Greek word all is all. Does that 50 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:09.599 include your stupid mistakes? Yes? Does that include your dumb decisions? Yes? 51 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.159 Does that include your failures yes? Does that include your 52 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:18.639 sins yes? Does that include divorce and miscarriage and unemployment 53 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:27.199 and everything else that happens in life yes, bankruptcy yes, cancer, Yes, 54 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:35.479 everything is included in all. We know that in all 55 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:37.960 things God fits it all onto His Planet's certainly not 56 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:39.800 all good. There's a lot of bad in the world. 57 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.560 There is evil in this world, and God is not 58 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.199 the author of evil. And God grieves when he sees 59 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.120 evil happening. But He's given us a free choice, and 60 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:51.680 he will not force you or anybody else to do 61 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:56.479 right without taking away your free will. We know that 62 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:02.599 in all things God were works for the good of 63 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:05.520 those who love him. He works for the good. There 64 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.120 is a grand design behind everything in your life. There 65 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:12.080 is a designer. Your life is not an accident. It 66 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:16.399 is not fate. There is no luck in your life. 67 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.600 There is no karma, there is no random chance, there 68 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.480 is no happenstance. There is a design behind your life. 69 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:30.120 We know that in all things God is working for 70 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:33.279 what for the good, even in the bad. Yes, for 71 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:35.959 the good. He loves to bring good out of bad. 72 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.399 He loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. He loves to 73 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.879 take the stupid mistakes of others and the ones we 74 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.800 make ourselves, and somehow put them all together and bring good. 75 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.959 We make mistakes, but God never makes a mistake. God 76 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:57.040 works for the good of those who love him. Now, 77 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.959 this is not a promise for everybody in the world. 78 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:00.959 God is not working everything for the good for those 79 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.240 who don't love him. If I'm thumbing my nose to God, 80 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:06.480 I'm turning my back on God. I'm pretending I'm my 81 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.319 own God. I don't need God. Everything's working for bad 82 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.279 in my life. It's not working for good. God owes 83 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:16.720 me nothing when I deny my creator his right to 84 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.000 lead and direct my life. Since he made me, and 85 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.199 I ignore his purpose and do my own thing. Everything 86 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.800 is not working for good. In fact, it's working for bad. 87 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:29.839 This is a promise for those who love God, who 88 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:33.480 are called according to His purpose. And one of the 89 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.560 reasons I worship God is because he is a God 90 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.720 who can take the mess of my life and bring 91 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:41.639 a message out of it. He can take the test 92 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.040 in my life and create a testimony out of it. 93 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:47.600 And he can take the crisis and he can show 94 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.680 Christ through it. And he can take the bad things 95 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:54.360 in my life and he can bring even good out 96 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.959 of that. It is a mystery and a miracle to me. 97 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:03.920 In a sense, it's not you know, I like chocolate 98 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:09.240 chip cookies. In fact, I like them a lot. I 99 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:13.279 like them so much I know how to make them. 100 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:16.519 In fact, I don't even need a recipe. I've made them. 101 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.560 I know how to make chocolate chips. And the amazing 102 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.839 thing is I get in a little hurries sometimes and 103 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.680 I want to eat the individual ingredients, and they taste 104 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:32.519 like turdle spit. You ever eat a little you know, shortening, 105 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:38.920 don't try raw eggs, bad salt and sugar by itself, 106 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:49.120 bad baking, sowd up, bad chocolate chips good one out 107 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:54.120 of six not bad? Okay? Somehow, though, when you mix 108 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:57.399 five bad things with one good thing, and you stir 109 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.800 them up together. It is so good you eat half 110 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:05.720 the dough before you make the cookie. How is that 111 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:09.720 five bad things in one good equal a really good mixture. 112 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:13.879 And that's what God wants to do with your life. 113 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.160 He wants to take bad, bad, bad, bad, bad bad 114 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:23.959 good and turn you into missus Fields. And he's a 115 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.120 pro at it. And today we're gonna look at how 116 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.519 he does it. God does not want you to waste 117 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:34.639 your experiences. So how do I keep from rate wasting 118 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.560 the experiences that I've had in my life up to 119 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:42.839 this point? Three things? Number one First, you must embrace 120 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:48.759 your experiences. You must embrace them. You must embrace the 121 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.240 experiences of your life, the good ones, the bad ones, 122 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.800 the shameful ones, the right ones, the wrong ones, the 123 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.240 happy and the sad ones, all of them. You've got 124 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:01.079 to stop running from your past if God's going to 125 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.639 use it for good in your life. Galatians Chapter three, 126 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.000 Verse fources this, you have experienced many things where all 127 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.839 those experiences wasted. I hope not. And as your pastor, 128 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:17.120 I say to you, I hope not too. Don't run 129 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:20.360 away from your past. The problem is because of pain, 130 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:26.480 many people deny their past, ignore their past, discount their past, 131 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.199 regret their past, resent the past, shoot, they revise their 132 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:35.559 past and rewrite their past, and they make up little 133 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.919 stories that aren't really the way it was because they're 134 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.960 happier with their story than the pain of the past. 135 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:46.440 God says, if you're in denial, you can't You can't 136 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.480 use it for good, and I can't use it for 137 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.919 good in your life. Would you write this on your outline? 138 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.480 God can use every experience in my life for good. 139 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:02.320 Every experience, the relational, the educational, the spiritual, the vocational, 140 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.240 the painful, all of them, the ones you like and 141 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:08.120 the ones you didn't like. He can use them all. 142 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.159 But you've got to stop running from him. You have 143 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:15.440 to embrace your experiences. And maybe your parents weren't that great, 144 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.279 or maybe you weren't that hot in school, or maybe 145 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.919 you weren't the football captain or the prom queen wealth. 146 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.399 So what they're your experiences. Own them and God will 147 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:29.639 use them for good in your life. In order to 148 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:33.600 use them, you got to remember them, stop pushing them 149 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.759 out of your mind. You got to remember them. And 150 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.200 Jesus tells us this, and in fact, in the old 151 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.799 Estima tells it too. In Deuteronomy eleven, verse two. It says, 152 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:46.320 remember what you have learned about the Lord through your 153 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:52.360 experiences with him. Now it says, remember what you have learned. 154 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.679 It's saying the important thing is to remember the lessons. 155 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.240 Remember the lessons. Now, how do you do that? Well, 156 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.200 the best way to remember the lessons of your life, 157 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.320 the experiences is to keep a journal. Now, I'm not 158 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.759 talking about a diary. A diary is a list of 159 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:14.000 what you did today. I went to the store and 160 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:17.159 bought milk whipped. You do a journal, but you don't 161 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.399 necessarily write in every day. It's just every time you 162 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.840 have an important lesson, you write that one down because 163 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:23.399 you don't want to forget it. And you go, oh, boy, 164 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.480 that was painful. I had to learn that one the 165 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.399 hard way. I don't want to forget that, and you 166 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:32.639 write down the lesson. He says, remember what you've learned 167 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:37.159 about me, and you want to keep a journal. This 168 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.080 is one of my journals. I've been keeping a journal 169 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.279 off and on now for well since I was in college. 170 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:46.240 And I don't write in it every day or even 171 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:48.519 every week. It's just when I get a lesson and go, oh, 172 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.720 I don't want to forget that one. And I hear something, 173 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:53.879 I learned something, I write it down, and then I 174 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:56.840 go back and reread it. Now, why do you want 175 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.440 to keep a journal on your experiences and the lessons 176 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:03.240 you learn from them in life? Because hindsight is always 177 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:08.679 twenty twenty. You understand your life looking back, not looking forward. 178 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.080 Isn't that true? It makes a whole lot more sense 179 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.799 looking backwards. In fact, Jesus said it. Notice this next verse, 180 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:20.159 Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I am doing, 181 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:27.000 but later you will understand. You almost never understand what 182 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:31.000 God is doing in your life in the present. It 183 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.399 is only looking back you go, oh, now, I see 184 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:36.960 it now, I see what God was doing. He was 185 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.399 doing this. I didn't see it at the time, but 186 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:44.360 I see it now. Joseph was a man who in 187 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.360 the Bible, everything in his life went wrong. For forty years. 188 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.960 It was downhill. Nothing went right, including being thrown in 189 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.480 jail for a rape that he did not even do. 190 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.960 He had run from the woman and she falsely accused him. 191 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:58.399 Everything went wrong in this poor guy's life for the 192 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:04.759 first forty years, and yet later, looking back, when God 193 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.159 had done a series of amazing things and raised him 194 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.480 to second in command in Egypt, And during a famine 195 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:13.320 he saved Israel and Egypt from starving to death. And 196 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:15.639 when he was confronted with the brothers who had traded 197 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:19.240 him into slavery years earlier, and told their dad, you 198 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.679 know he just died. Sorry, he said this the next verse. 199 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:29.360 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. Now, 200 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.639 there are things in your life where people intended to 201 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:34.440 hurt you and they meant it. They meant to hurt you, 202 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.200 and I'm sorry, and they intended it for bad. But 203 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.960 God is greater than your problem and your pain, and 204 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.279 his purpose is far bigger than either of those, and 205 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.840 he means it for good. So first you have to 206 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:54.639 embrace your experiences and stop running from them. Okay, number two. 207 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.600 You first, you embrace the experience. The second you extract 208 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:03.720 the lessons. You pull the lessons out of the experience 209 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:09.000 you've had. An unexamined experience is worthless. There are people 210 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.159 who are fifty years old. They haven't lived fifty years, 211 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:15.440 they've lived one year fifty times, and they're still making 212 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:18.519 the same mistakes because they never stop and extract the 213 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.480 lessons from what happened in this last year, and how 214 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.159 can I do it differently based on what I did 215 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.720 this last year? And then never pull it out. Second 216 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.840 Corinthians thirteen, verse five says this, I let this in 217 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:38.960 the amplified examine and test and evaluate your own selves 218 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.879 to see whether you're holding to your faith. In other words, 219 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:47.120 you've got to extract the lessons. Do you not realize 220 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.240 by an ever increasing experience that Jesus Christ is in you? 221 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.279 Haven't you figured out by now that you're never alone? 222 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:59.000 That God is with you all the time, that no 223 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.440 matter when you thought you were your most lonely, he 224 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:03.759 was right there with you. Have you not figured out 225 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.840 from your experiences yet that Jesus is with you and 226 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.840 in you if you've invited him into your life. If 227 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.759 you haven't, you're not keeping a record of where your 228 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.759 life's headed. And you need to go back and examine 229 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:19.000 and test and evaluate. What does that mean? You take 230 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:23.679 some time to review the experiences of your life and 231 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.279 what do you look for? You look for benefits, patterns 232 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:31.440 and lessons. You look for benefits, What did I really 233 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:34.360 enjoy in my life? And you go back and you 234 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:37.240 don't just say, well, I really enjoyed that job. You go, 235 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.480 what was it about that job that I really loved? 236 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:44.399 That'll help you understand your shape. And you don't say 237 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:47.759 I really like that class, You go, what exactly about 238 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:52.039 that class did I like? That was so fulfilling to me? 239 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.360 And you'll get little clues about where you should be 240 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.360 headed with your life and the shape of where you 241 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:02.519 should be. Don't examine your experiences, they have no value 242 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:06.639 to you. You look for patterns, and particularly you want 243 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.519 to look for patterns in your failure because when you failed, 244 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.480 you do it the same way every time, and so 245 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:15.279 you look at them. Now, where if I failed in 246 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.759 the past, and you don't look at it to beat 247 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:20.440 yourself up? Oh poor me? You do it so you 248 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.519 can go, I want to be different. What are the 249 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:25.399 patterns that I keep doing over and over and over? 250 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:30.120 And as the old cliche goes, those who ignore history 251 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:33.519 are doomed to repeat it. This is the problem with 252 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:37.159 the Israelites. They were freed from four hundred years of slavery. 253 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.080 They're coming to the Promised Land. They're crossing the Sinai Peninsula, 254 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:43.080 and it takes them forty years. Why this trip should 255 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:47.480 only taken four weeks? It took them forty years. Why 256 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:51.960 because they've refused to learn the experiences the lessons that 257 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.159 they needed to learn. And so God would give them 258 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:56.960 a test and they'd blow it and they'd forget, so go, okay, 259 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:01.120 one more lap around the desert, and then they'd have 260 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.000 another test. Okay, one more lap around the desert. And 261 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.120 they did it seven times, and it took them forty 262 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.799 years to take something that should have never taken that long. 263 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.120 You want to look for the lessons. Notice this next verse. 264 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.759 The Bible says in Job thirty two seven, the longer 265 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:23.919 you live read it with me, the wiser you become. Now, friends, 266 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:30.919 that verse is a possibility, not a promise. I know 267 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.679 a lot of people who are old who are dumb. 268 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:40.000 So is wisdom does not automatically come with age. That's 269 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:45.799 a possibility, not a promise. You see, maturity is when 270 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.559 you extract meaning from the everyday experiences of life. That's 271 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.480 what it means to be mature. You're able to look 272 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.799 at the things in your life, the normal everyday things, 273 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.840 and go, oh, I got that. Other people just go 274 00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:01.799 through life. Never ever, you're examining a Socrates says, the 275 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:07.680 unexamined life and worth living. So treat every experience as 276 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.759 in education. You go, what can I learn from this? 277 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:13.359 And the amazing thing about the school of experience is 278 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.279 two things. One, if you fail the test, it's okay. 279 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.000 You get to take it over and over and over 280 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.279 and over until you pass it. And the second thing 281 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.960 about the school of experience is just about the time 282 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:30.319 you think you've graduated, they add another course and you 283 00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:33.200 will be in that school the rest of your life. 284 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.720 You embrace your experiences, you extract the lessons, and then 285 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:42.000 number three, you employ them to help others. You employ 286 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:44.200 them to help others. Now, when you finally realize that 287 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.960 the purpose of your life is far greater than your 288 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:51.519 own happiness, problems become a whole lot easier to handle. 289 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:55.319 You just look at everything from a different perspective, and 290 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.519 you're able to use the experiences of your life, good 291 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:01.559 and bad, to help other people. Fall says Saint Paul 292 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.119 and Philippians chapter one. He's writing to the people in 293 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:07.920 the Greek city of Philippi, and he says this, I 294 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.039 want you to know, my friends, that the things that 295 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:17.160 have happened to me have actually really helped the progress 296 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:20.480 of the gospel. He says, I want you guys to 297 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.160 know that the things that have happened to me are 298 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:27.960 actually they're beneficial for the ultimate goal sharing the good news. 299 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:31.440 Now where is he when he's writing this, and what 300 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.119 are the things that have happened to him? He has 301 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:38.079 been captured, taken on ship to Rome, been in a shipwreck, 302 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.279 been bitten by a snake, now thrown in prison in 303 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.319 a dungeon, cuff to a twenty four hour Roman guard, 304 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.160 and he's gone, Oh, the things that have happened to 305 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.079 me have actually caused the good news to be spread further. 306 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.920 It's spreading now all over Rome. That's a different perspective. 307 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:59.480 He's not whining and crying and complaining that things aren't 308 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.720 people won't make him happy. Oh, if it weren't for 309 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.400 this poor centurion, I'd be happy. If I weren't in 310 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.160 this prison, i'd be happy. No, he's saying, you know, 311 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:14.359 I've got a bigger perspective. Now. The Bible teaches that 312 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.880 God wants you to use your experiences in four ways. 313 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:22.279 Number one, use them to minister to others. God says, 314 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:26.680 I want you to use your experiences to minister to others. 315 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.240 Now I don't have to spend a lot of time 316 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:30.680 on this point because we've talked about it so often 317 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:34.759 here and the key verses Second Corinthians, chapter one that 318 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:42.640 says this in our trouble, God has comforted us, and 319 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:46.440 this too is to help you, to show you from 320 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:52.559 our personal experience, how God will tenderly comfort you when 321 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.000 you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the 322 00:19:56.039 --> 00:20:00.799 strength to endure. The point here is that God takes 323 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:06.400 us through problems, comforts us, helps us, strengthens us in 324 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.880 our problems, so then we can comfort, help and strengthen 325 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.160 others when they go through the same thing. God blesses 326 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:15.839 us to be a blessing to others. God helps us 327 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.920 so we can help others. And every experience that you've 328 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.640 gone through He wants to use in your life to 329 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:27.759 help somebody else. He says, use your experiences, don't waste them. 330 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.519 Use them how by helping somebody else who's about to 331 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:35.160 go through or is going through what you've already been through. 332 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.079 Who can better help someone going through cancer than somebody 333 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:45.039 who's been through cancer. Who can help somebody dealing with 334 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:49.240 an addiction to pornography or medicines or drugs, or a 335 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.079 million other things than somebody who's been addicted to pornography 336 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.759 or drugs or a million other things. Who can better 337 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.799 help someone deal with the pain of a divorce than 338 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.880 someone who's been there know what it's like. Who can 339 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.559 help someone deal with the problem of rejection and adultery 340 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:12.160 than somebody who experienced the problem of rejection and adultery. 341 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:15.039 Who can better help the parents of a special need 342 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.640 child than parents who had a special need child, And 343 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.440 who could better help parents who had a kid who 344 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.640 went off the deep end than somebody whose son or 345 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:29.480 daughter went off the deep end. Who can better help 346 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:31.640 someone in the loss of a loved one than someone 347 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:35.000 who says I just lost my loved one last year. 348 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.920 And who could better help somebody with aids than someone 349 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:44.839 who's got aids. God never waste the hurt. I've said 350 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:48.240 that a thousand times in this church. He never wastes 351 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:50.640 the hurt. And he doesn't want you to waste your hurts. 352 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:55.599 He wants to use them to benefit and bless other people. 353 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.599 And the thing that you're most embarrassed about, that you 354 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:06.839 most regret, that injustice, that prejudice, that hurt, that wound, 355 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.279 that sin, that mistake, The thing you'd like to keep 356 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:13.440 in the closet and would say, you know, that's over. 357 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:15.559 I'm not going to think about it. That's not my 358 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:22.720 life anymore. That very thing can become your greatest ministry. 359 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:27.240 You always help people more through your weaknesses than your strengths. 360 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.960 When you come and you try to help somebody with 361 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.640 your strengths, they're going, well, whooped you do? You're just 362 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.839 good at it, big deal, you're talented. There so what, 363 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:39.559 I'll never be like you. But when you come and 364 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:43.960 you say, you know what, been there done that? I 365 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:49.599 remember how embarrassed, how shocked, how afraid I felt with 366 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:57.279 that bankruptcy or that situation, and then you begin to 367 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:03.839 help other people with it. Who could better help someone 368 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:09.960 who's been raped than somebody who went through a rape. 369 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:15.519 Nobody else could even understand what that's like, an abuse, 370 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:21.920 a rape, an incest, or anything else. You know what, 371 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:25.279 if you don't use your experience, it's wasted. All you 372 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:30.000 get out of it is pain. That's not what God 373 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:31.799 wants you to get out of it. Where was God 374 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:36.279 when that happened? He was grieving too, and he could 375 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.359 have taken away the free will of every one of us, 376 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:40.359 But that would have made us not human, we would 377 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:43.519 have been puppets. And there's a lot of things that 378 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:47.680 happen on this planet that God hates. He hates it, 379 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:52.079 he hates evil, and he weeps. But if you just 380 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.440 refuse to deal with it and let God use it 381 00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:57.519 and bring good out of it, all you get out 382 00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:01.039 of it is pain and God, oh no, don't waste 383 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:06.359 your hurt. Don't waste your hurt. Embrace your experiences, extract 384 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:10.960 the lessons and use them help others. Employ them to 385 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:14.119 help others by ministering, first of all, out of the 386 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:18.799 very things that you think you'd like to forget now. 387 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:21.240 The second way God wants you to use your experiences 388 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:26.279 is use them to motivate others. You minister to people 389 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.400 in their pain. You motivate others when they're discouraged, when 390 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:34.359 they're down. And your experiences can be inspirational to many 391 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:38.000 people because you have been things, through things, and been 392 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.119 through places that they have not yet gone through, and 393 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:48.359 you can motivate them. 394 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.319 Thank you so much for joining us on Pastor Rick's 395 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.480 Daily Hope today. Hey, I'm wondering have you ever asked 396 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:57.440 the question, what does God want me to do with 397 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.119 my life? If you're like me, of course you have 398 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:04.480 and you're not alone. God intentionally created you to fulfill 399 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:08.359 a unique purpose. It's so important that you discover how 400 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:11.359 you can live the full and abundant life that God 401 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.160