Speaker 1: Hello, and thanks for joining us here on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 1: Today we continue a teaching series called Uncommon Courage. In
Speaker 1: these lessons, Rick is going to share biblical inspiration that
Speaker 1: will help you get the courage you need to follow
Speaker 1: God's calling for your life. In just a few moments,
Speaker 1: we're going to tell you how to get a hardcover
Speaker 1: copy of Pastor Rick's wonderful book The Purpose of Christmas,
Speaker 1: just in time for the season. Go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com to find out more, or text the word Daily
Speaker 1: to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's
Speaker 1: Pastorick dot com, or the word Daily to eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four. Right now, here's Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick with the final part of a message called the
Speaker 1: Courage to Keep Going.
Speaker 2: You know, there's a praise that has helped me a
Speaker 2: lot as I deal with senseless tragedies. And I see
Speaker 2: him all the time as your pastor, because I'm hearing
Speaker 2: what's going on in your life and in your life
Speaker 2: and your life, and I see it all the time.
Speaker 2: And one of the things I've just come to say
Speaker 2: in my mind is I say this. It's all a
Speaker 2: part of the plan. It's all a part of the plan.
Speaker 2: That's a good thing to remember. It's all a part
Speaker 2: of the plan. It's not all good, and God doesn't
Speaker 2: cause it. God doesn't cause sin. If I went out
Speaker 2: here and got drunk and got in an accident and
Speaker 2: hurt somebody, that would not be God's will. It would
Speaker 2: not be God causing it. But you know what, God says,
Speaker 2: I'm even bigger than your sin. I'm bigger than your mistakes.
Speaker 2: I'm greater than your faux pause and false and stupid decisions.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I'll even fit that into the
Speaker 2: plan for good. You may be thinking, where was God
Speaker 2: when my loved one died the same place he was
Speaker 2: when his son died on the cross for you, when
Speaker 2: his son was dying for your sins so you could
Speaker 2: go to heaven. He was grieving, he was weeping. He
Speaker 2: was sorrowing over the brokenness of this planet because of sin.
Speaker 2: And now nothing works right. But you weren't made to
Speaker 2: live forever on this planet. No, No, you were made
Speaker 2: for something far more. This is just the stopover place.
Speaker 2: You weren't made to live on Earth forever. You ought
Speaker 2: to thank God. You're not going to live on earth
Speaker 2: forever with all the sorrow and suffering and sickness and
Speaker 2: illness and sin and abuse and perversion and war and
Speaker 2: crime and hatred and all of the evil that's in
Speaker 2: this world. You ought to thank God. You're not going
Speaker 2: to live forever on this planet. You were made for
Speaker 2: so much more. But you need a savior. As I've
Speaker 2: said many many times, if you didn't need a savior,
Speaker 2: God wouldn't have sent Jesus Christmas, for unto you is
Speaker 2: born this day a savior who is Christ the Lord.
Speaker 2: If you could get into Heaven without Jesus Christ dying
Speaker 2: for your sins, believe me, Jesus wouldn't have wasted his blood,
Speaker 2: and God wouldn't have wasted his son. There's no other way.
Speaker 2: You need a savior. I don't know what you're going through,
Speaker 2: but you need to do these steps. You need to
Speaker 2: just be gut level honest with God and tell them
Speaker 2: exactly how you feel He can handle it. You need
Speaker 2: to involve other people in your life, God, godly good people,
Speaker 2: get a small group, get some support system, and let
Speaker 2: other people help you. Humble yourself and receive help stop
Speaker 2: asking why file it in the doesn't make sense file,
Speaker 2: and start trusting God in all the things you don't understand.
Speaker 2: Number five. Refuse to become bitter. Refuse to become bitter.
Speaker 2: When Job lost everything in his life in one single
Speaker 2: twenty four hour period and then got a terrible illness
Speaker 2: at the same time, Here's what he said. I came
Speaker 2: naked from my mother's womb, and I shall have nothing
Speaker 2: when I die. The Lord gave me everything that I had,
Speaker 2: and they were his to take away. Blessed be the
Speaker 2: name of the Lord. You give and take away, you
Speaker 2: give and take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 2: God says, Job did not sin by blaming God. Job said,
Speaker 2: you know what, I didn't bring anything into this world
Speaker 2: a one stinking thing. I'm not taking anything out of
Speaker 2: it into the next life, not one stinking thing. Whatever
Speaker 2: I have right now, God gave me. It's his to give,
Speaker 2: it's his to take away. It's his to allow somebody
Speaker 2: else to take away. If somebody else does it, Blessed
Speaker 2: be the name of the Lord. I'm not going to
Speaker 2: be bitter. Grief is good, Bitterness is bad. Pain will
Speaker 2: not kill you. Bitterness will sorrow and grief will not
Speaker 2: harm you. Resentment will destroy you. Resentment prolongs the pain.
Speaker 2: It doesn't relieve it, it reinforces it. It makes it worse.
Speaker 2: Grief is a good thing. Now, now, men, let me
Speaker 2: talk to you for a minute, because guys, we don't
Speaker 2: handle grief very well because men, by nature don't like
Speaker 2: sad feelings, and so when we feel any little bit
Speaker 2: of sadness, we start pushing it down. And that's like
Speaker 2: I said, shaken up the coke bottle. It doesn't work,
Speaker 2: but we want to push you. You need to realize
Speaker 2: grief is God's gift to you. Grief is the tool
Speaker 2: that helps you through the transitions of life. It's how
Speaker 2: you move from one loss to the next chapter, to
Speaker 2: the next stage, to the next element in your life.
Speaker 2: There is no growth without change. There is no change
Speaker 2: without loss, and there is no loss without pain and grief.
Speaker 2: You're going to have pain in your life for the
Speaker 2: rest of your life. You got to learn how to grieve. Good.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, blessed that means happy. Blessed are those who mourn,
Speaker 2: for they shall be comforted. It's a good thing. God grieves.
Speaker 2: In fact, the shortest verse in the Bible is just
Speaker 2: two words, and John eleven Jesus wept. Jesus knows how
Speaker 2: to grieve, and grief is a good thing. And there's
Speaker 2: a proper time for everything in life. Yes, he says,
Speaker 2: there's a time and purpose for everything. A time to
Speaker 2: be happy, a time to be sad, a time to celebrate,
Speaker 2: a time to mourn, a time to have a party,
Speaker 2: a time to grieve. There are seasons of grief in life.
Speaker 2: That's a good thing. But you cannot let a season
Speaker 2: of grief become a lifestyle of grief, because that'll destroy you.
Speaker 2: There's a time and purpose for everything. In other words,
Speaker 2: there's a difference between mourning and moaning. There's a difference
Speaker 2: between weeping and wallowing. And at some point you gotta
Speaker 2: let it go. I want you to write this down.
Speaker 2: Losses deepen me, but don't define me. Losses deepen me,
Speaker 2: but they don't define me. You are not your divorce.
Speaker 2: You are not the bankruptcy. You are not the failure
Speaker 2: of that business. You are not the disability. You are
Speaker 2: not the difficulty. Losses deepen me, but they do not
Speaker 2: define me. They are part of my maturity, they are
Speaker 2: not part of my identity. That's not me. It's just
Speaker 2: something that happened to me, and that's over and I'm
Speaker 2: now going on to the next thing, the part of maturity,
Speaker 2: but not part of my identity. Another thing you need
Speaker 2: to realize is that when you go through a problem,
Speaker 2: a major problem, God gives you grace in that moment,
Speaker 2: and he doesn't give it to anybody else around you.
Speaker 2: Only the person going through it gets the grace. And
Speaker 2: God gives you just enough grace for today and tomorrow.
Speaker 2: He'll give you just enough grace to handle the stress
Speaker 2: of tomorrow, and he'll give you enough grace the next day. Now,
Speaker 2: if you start worrying about something that's going to happen
Speaker 2: in ten days, that's stupid because God's not going to
Speaker 2: give you grace today for something that doesn't happen for
Speaker 2: ten days, so you're borrowing trouble. It's why it's dumb
Speaker 2: to worry, because when you worry, you're borrowing trouble when
Speaker 2: you don't have the grace for it. Yet when you
Speaker 2: get there in ten days, God will give you the
Speaker 2: strength to handle it in ten days, but you don't
Speaker 2: have the strength to handle it now. And that's why
Speaker 2: it's destroying you because you're caring weight that God wasn't
Speaker 2: going to give you. You're second guessing, you're presupposing, you're worrying,
Speaker 2: you're being anxious, you're being fearful, and God is not
Speaker 2: going to give you grace for that event today. You
Speaker 2: just got to live it one day at a time.
Speaker 2: The Bible doesn't say give us this day, our monthly bred.
Speaker 2: God says, I'm going to give you one day at
Speaker 2: a time, enough strength for today. Now here's the problem.
Speaker 2: When you're in a situation. God gives you grace in
Speaker 2: that moment, but he's not giving it to the people
Speaker 2: around you who are watching. So sometimes people are going
Speaker 2: to give you the wrong advice, including friends, including family,
Speaker 2: because they don't have the same grace you've been given.
Speaker 2: Job Chapter two, verse nine and ten. Job's wife said
Speaker 2: to Job, are you still trying to maintain your integrity?
Speaker 2: Curse God and die? Oh thank you, honey, that was
Speaker 2: very helpful. I really a man. That's what you call
Speaker 2: a supportive woman. Thank you, honey. Curse God and die.
Speaker 2: I haven't thought of that one. That's a good That's
Speaker 2: Job's wife said to him, Are you still trying to
Speaker 2: maintain your integrity, curse God and die. But Job said,
Speaker 2: you're talking like a godless woman. Should we accept only
Speaker 2: good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?
Speaker 2: In all of this, Job said, nothing wrong. He refused
Speaker 2: to become bitter. He refused to become resentful. As I said,
Speaker 2: it doesn't relieve the pain, it just reinforces it. Hebrews
Speaker 2: twelve says, watch out that no bitterness takes root among you,
Speaker 2: because it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.
Speaker 2: It's been said many times in this life, pain is inevitable,
Speaker 2: but misery is optional.
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: If you've missed any part of today's teaching, you can
Speaker 1: listen online anytime at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: What's the True Reason for the Season? Fill your heart
Speaker 3: with hope this year when you discover Pastor Rick's inspirational
Speaker 3: book The Purpose of Christmas. In it, Rick shows you
Speaker 3: how Christmas is designed to meet your three deepest needs
Speaker 3: and out receiving the three Christmas gifts God has for
Speaker 3: you will transform your life forever. This book is sure
Speaker 3: to become a loved family favorite, to be read at
Speaker 3: every Christmas and to be shared with your friends who
Speaker 3: may not know how much God loves them. We'll send
Speaker 3: you the inspiring and beautifully illustrated book The Purpose of
Speaker 3: Christmas as our way of saying thanks when you give
Speaker 3: a gift to help Daily Hope take the Certain Hope
Speaker 3: of Jesus to people around the world. To get your
Speaker 3: copy of this great resource, just call eight hundred six
Speaker 3: hundred five zero zero four or go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 3: com to get yours. That's eight hundred and six hundred
Speaker 3: five zero zero four or Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, it's Pastor Rick Warren with some really big news.
Speaker 2: My Daily Hope devotionals are now available in Portuguese. If
Speaker 2: you know somebody who would enjoy reading these devotionals and Portuguese,
Speaker 2: please email me and I'll send you the link to
Speaker 2: sign up. My email is Rick at Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 2: That's Rick at Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: It's been said many times in this life. Pain is inevitable,
Speaker 2: but misery is optional. It's your choice. Now, there's one
Speaker 2: other thing that job did number six. Face the future
Speaker 2: with courage. Face the future with courage. That's what this
Speaker 2: message is about, the courage to keep going uncommon courage.
Speaker 2: You know, there was another guy in the Bible who
Speaker 2: lost the baby. His name was King, David. King. David's
Speaker 2: wife had a little baby boy, and David loved that baby.
Speaker 2: And it got very very sick, and it was dying.
Speaker 2: And David went in and he laid himself down in
Speaker 2: his home on the ground, and he prayed night and day,
Speaker 2: night and day, night and day. He wouldn't eat, he
Speaker 2: was fasting. He wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't take a shower,
Speaker 2: a bath, he wouldn't do any business. He just prayed.
Speaker 2: God saved that baby. Save that baby. Save that baby. God,
Speaker 2: please save that baby. I don't know what your purpose
Speaker 2: and plan is. I don't know what the future is.
Speaker 2: All I know is my desire, and I want you
Speaker 2: to save that baby. It's okay to pray your desires
Speaker 2: when you don't know what God's got in store. And
Speaker 2: he prayed, and he prayed and prayed, but the baby died.
Speaker 2: And when David, the king's advisors came to tell him,
Speaker 2: King David, your son has passed away. They were worried
Speaker 2: because they thought he's so distraught. Well, the baby's alive.
Speaker 2: He might just lose it when the baby dies. And
Speaker 2: they were all worried. They said, your son has died.
Speaker 2: You know what David did. He got up, he dusted
Speaker 2: himself off, He went home, he took a shower, he shaved,
Speaker 2: he put on clean clothes, he ate for the first
Speaker 2: time in days, and he went back to work. And
Speaker 2: the advisors were amazed. They said, we don't get it.
Speaker 2: You were so distraught. Now you're just going on, getting
Speaker 2: on with your life. David said something very profound. He
Speaker 2: said this, my child will never return to me, but
Speaker 2: one day I will return to my child in heaven.
Speaker 2: He will not come back to me, but I will
Speaker 2: go to him one day. That chapter's closed. It's over.
Speaker 2: And I did the best I could. I did what
Speaker 2: I thought I could. I was acting on the best
Speaker 2: I can. But it's over. That chapter's close. I'm going
Speaker 2: on and I'm going to face the future with courage.
Speaker 2: Job Elevin says, this put your heart right. Job reach
Speaker 2: out to God, put away evil and wrong from your home.
Speaker 2: Then face the world again, firm and courageous. Underline that
Speaker 2: face the world again, firm and courageous. You need courage
Speaker 2: to face the future. Then all your troubles will fade
Speaker 2: from your memory like floods that are past and remembered
Speaker 2: no more. Your life will be brighter than the sunshine
Speaker 2: at noon, and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn,
Speaker 2: and you will live pure and full of hope. And
Speaker 2: many of you, if not most of you, have had
Speaker 2: a major loss in life, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: Or you've had a disappointment and you thought, I'm putting
Speaker 2: it all on this business, I'm putting it all on
Speaker 2: this marriage. I'm putting it all on this dream. I'm
Speaker 2: rolling the dice, I'm going for it, and it just
Speaker 2: collapsed and it's not coming back. And that chapter on
Speaker 2: your life, in your life story, in your life book,
Speaker 2: that chapter in your life has closed, but it's not
Speaker 2: the final chapter. You're still alive. That means the final
Speaker 2: chapter of your life has not been written yet. Yes,
Speaker 2: that one was there. You could remember it. You can
Speaker 2: thank God for it, or you can grieve over it.
Speaker 2: But you say that chapter's over. I'm going to get
Speaker 2: on with my life. I'm going to face the future
Speaker 2: with courage. What will happen if you do these six
Speaker 2: things that Job did? What will happen if you tell
Speaker 2: God exactly how you feel, You enlist other people to
Speaker 2: support you, You stop asking why you trust God for
Speaker 2: the stuff that doesn't make sense, and you file it
Speaker 2: in the doesn't make sense file, and you say, God,
Speaker 2: no matter what happens, I'm going to trust you implicitly
Speaker 2: and completely, and I'm not going to become bitter. I'm
Speaker 2: going to be better and I'm going to face the
Speaker 2: future courageously. What will happen if you do that? Look
Speaker 2: at that passage again, Job eleven. I want you to
Speaker 2: undercircle the phrase life will be brighter. I want you
Speaker 2: to circle that phrase life will be brighter. You see,
Speaker 2: we don't realize that the darkest time in our lives
Speaker 2: is often the tunnel to the brightest time in our life.
Speaker 2: It's the tunnel. You're going through the tunnel, but you're
Speaker 2: going to come out on the other end life will
Speaker 2: be brighter. I can't imagine that you need to trust
Speaker 2: God life will be bright. You need to trust God.
Speaker 2: But you do need a savior. You need Jesus. Just
Speaker 2: follow me in this prayer in your mind. Dear God,
Speaker 2: you know the pain and the loss and the disappointments
Speaker 2: I've been through, and You've heard all my doubts and
Speaker 2: all my questions and all my ranting and raving. And
Speaker 2: I am so grateful that you love me so much
Speaker 2: that you can handle all of my doubts and my
Speaker 2: complaints and my anger and my fears and my negative motions.
Speaker 2: But God, I want to be better, not bitter. So
Speaker 2: I want to do the things that job did help
Speaker 2: me to accept help from others. And starting today, I'm
Speaker 2: going to make a file and I'm going to file
Speaker 2: all my unanswered questions and that doesn't make sense. File
Speaker 2: And instead, I'm going to trust you completely, realizing that
Speaker 2: one day I will see it all with complete clarity.
Speaker 2: And I'm going to trust you. And God, even if
Speaker 2: I do, I'm gonna trust you. I know that you
Speaker 2: are a good God. I know that you love me,
Speaker 2: that you are all powerful, and I thank you that
Speaker 2: you notice every detail of my life. I thank you
Speaker 2: that you are in control, that you have a plan
Speaker 2: for my life, that you will protect me and your
Speaker 2: plan is good. Jesus. I need you to save me
Speaker 2: from my pain. I need you to save me from
Speaker 2: my self doubts. I need to save need you to
Speaker 2: save me from my past, Save me from my sins,
Speaker 2: save me from my anger, save me from my fear,
Speaker 2: Save me from myself. I want to put my life
Speaker 2: and my trust completely in your hands. Face the future
Speaker 2: with courage. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Hi everybody,
Speaker 2: this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast.
Speaker 2: You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 2: very first time, or you just recommitted your life to
Speaker 2: Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 2: There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me
Speaker 2: Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I
Speaker 2: prayed that prayer of commitment, I gave my life to Christ.
Speaker 2: And I'll send you some material that will help you
Speaker 2: on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so thankful that
Speaker 1: you've chosen to spend some time with us. If you've
Speaker 1: missed any part of this broadcast, including portions we didn't
Speaker 1: have time for today. Just go to Pastorrick dot com
Speaker 1: and listen online anytime. Rick will be back to close
Speaker 1: out our time today. But first, let the true reason
Speaker 1: for the season fill your heart with hope this year
Speaker 1: when you discover Pastor Rick's inspirational book, The Purpose of Christmas,
Speaker 1: here's Pastor Rick to tell you more you know.
Speaker 2: This month on Daily Hope, we're offering to send you
Speaker 2: a special copy of my book called The Purpose of Christmas.
Speaker 2: I wrote this book to help you come to a
Speaker 2: deeper understanding of God's love for you by explaining the
Speaker 2: three purposes of Christmas that we're announced by the Angel
Speaker 2: at the birth of Jesus. The Angel announced the time
Speaker 2: of celebration. I bring you good news of great joy,
Speaker 2: salvation for unto you is born this day in the
Speaker 2: City of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord
Speaker 2: and reconciliation, Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. I'll send
Speaker 2: you the hardback edition of this book, The Purpose of Christmas,
Speaker 2: with the color illustrations, as our special thank you for
Speaker 2: your gift to support to Daily Hope Ministries. Daily Hope
Speaker 2: is a one hundred percent listener supported ministry so if
Speaker 2: you can help us continue to spread the good news
Speaker 2: through this broadcast, I'd appreciate any gift that you can send.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening today and join me next time as
Speaker 2: we continue to look into God's word for our Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: To get your copy of this great resource, just call
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or go
Speaker 1: to pastorick dot com to get yours. That's eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four or pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 1: your generous financial support