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. If you'd love to help
Speaker 1: the kids you know learn God's work, then stay with
Speaker 1: us because in just a few minutes we're going to
Speaker 1: tell you about God's big plans for me and easy
Speaker 1: to understand storybook Bible by Pastor Rick Warren. You can
Speaker 1: take a sneak peek right now by going to Pastorick
Speaker 1: dot com while you listen to today's message, or if
Speaker 1: you want, you can just text the word daily to
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's the
Speaker 1: word Daily to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 2: Right now.
Speaker 1: Here's Pastor Rick Wood part one of a message called
Speaker 1: the Courage to Keep Going.
Speaker 2: You know, I've discovered something very profound. Life is hard,
Speaker 2: it's often disappointing, and the fact is life doesn't always
Speaker 2: cooperate with my plans. Have you noticed that, in fact,
Speaker 2: my plans rarely turn out the way I plan them to.
Speaker 2: Things fall apart, things go wrong, people disappoint plans don't happen,
Speaker 2: even the things we pray for. A lot of things
Speaker 2: we pray for, things we wanted to happen a certain way,
Speaker 2: and it doesn't end up happening that way, and our
Speaker 2: prayers aren't answered the way we want it. You know,
Speaker 2: a lot of people after a major loss or a
Speaker 2: major failure, they just pull into a shell. They kind
Speaker 2: of isolate themselves and they just basically say, Okay, my
Speaker 2: life's over, and they basically stop living and just aren't existing.
Speaker 2: They're kind of putting in the time and waiting for uh,
Speaker 2: waiting for a tall end. They're not really living anymore.
Speaker 2: On the other hand, there's some people that no matter
Speaker 2: what life throws out them, they just get back up
Speaker 2: and get right back into the game. They have amazing resilience.
Speaker 2: You knock them down, they get back up. You knock
Speaker 2: them down, they get back up. You knock them down,
Speaker 2: They get back up and do better than they did before.
Speaker 2: Paul was a guy like that in the Bible. Saint
Speaker 2: Paul had amazing resilience. He had an amazing ability to
Speaker 2: keep on keeping on when everybody else felt like giving up.
Speaker 2: The Bible says this in verse eight and nine and
Speaker 2: second Corinthians four. Paul said, we're pressed on every side
Speaker 2: by troubles, but we're not crushed and broken. We're perplexed,
Speaker 2: but we don't give up and quit. We're hunted down,
Speaker 2: but God never abandons this. We get knocked down, but
Speaker 2: we get up again and keep going. Now, where do
Speaker 2: you get that kind of resilience? I want that kind
Speaker 2: of resilience. I want you to have that kind of resilience.
Speaker 2: Where do you get the kind of courage to keep
Speaker 2: ongoing when every bone in your body wants to give up,
Speaker 2: wants to throw in the towel, said, Okay, I've just
Speaker 2: been hurt too many times. Forget it no more. I'm
Speaker 2: going to build a wall around my life. The problem
Speaker 2: is when you build a wall to keep the pain out,
Speaker 2: you also keep the love out and you end up existing,
Speaker 2: not living. This morning, I want us to look at
Speaker 2: how do you have the courage to keep going? And specifically,
Speaker 2: I want us to look at what do you do
Speaker 2: when you feel like giving up? Now? The classic passage
Speaker 2: on this in the Bible is the book of Job.
Speaker 2: Job is the oldest book in the Bible, you know,
Speaker 2: the story of Job. Job was the wealthiest man in
Speaker 2: the world in his day. He was the most prominent
Speaker 2: man in the world. And he was the most influential
Speaker 2: man in the world. And on one day, in a
Speaker 2: twenty four hour period, his entire life fell completely apart.
Speaker 2: First place, he lost his entire wealth, all of his flocks,
Speaker 2: all of his cattle, all of his goats, his farms,
Speaker 2: everything was destroyed on one day. All of his children
Speaker 2: were murdered by terrorists. The same day. And also in
Speaker 2: that same period of time, he contracted a terribly painful,
Speaker 2: chronic and terminal illness. Now you think you've had a
Speaker 2: bad day, I mean Job had a PhD in pain.
Speaker 2: He had a PhD in loss. He had a PhD
Speaker 2: in handling a crisis of life. And I want to
Speaker 2: tell you that no matter what you go through, and
Speaker 2: I'm not downgrading or belittling what you're going through, it's
Speaker 2: nothing compared married to what Job did in one twenty
Speaker 2: four hour period. And yet from his life we learn
Speaker 2: some things to do when you feel like giving up,
Speaker 2: when you feel like I don't have the energy to
Speaker 2: go one more step. I'm just gonna chuck it. I'm
Speaker 2: going to give up on my marriage, I'm going to
Speaker 2: give up on my job. I'm going to give up
Speaker 2: on my dream. I'm going to give up on my health.
Speaker 2: It's over. I'm done. Finished. If you'll do what Job did,
Speaker 2: you'll make it through. So let's look at it. Let's
Speaker 2: get right into it. Six things that Job did in
Speaker 2: his life on how to have the courage to keep
Speaker 2: going when you feel like giving up. Number one, When
Speaker 2: you've had a major loss, the first thing you need
Speaker 2: to do is this, tell God exactly how you feel.
Speaker 2: Just vent, just get it all out, all that frustration.
Speaker 2: You just need to tell it to God. You unload
Speaker 2: all your feelings, you release all your frustrations. Maybe you
Speaker 2: don't realize this, but when you trust God with your
Speaker 2: negative emotions, that's actually an act of worship. In the
Speaker 2: very first chapter of Job, after everything fell apart in
Speaker 2: his life, Job says this verse twenty. Job stood up,
Speaker 2: tore his robe in grief, shaved his head. Then he
Speaker 2: fell to the ground, and he worshiped. Now what's he
Speaker 2: doing here? He is physically visibly expressing his pain to God.
Speaker 2: He stands up he tears his robe. You've got to
Speaker 2: be pretty mad to start tearing your own clothes off.
Speaker 2: He tore his robe in grief, shaves his head. That's
Speaker 2: an act of humility, falls to the ground and worships.
Speaker 2: Anytime you go through a major loss in life or
Speaker 2: a major disappointment, you're going to experience four emotions. The
Speaker 2: first is anger, Why is this happening to me? Why
Speaker 2: is this happened to me? That's the natural action anger.
Speaker 2: The second you're going to have is grief. What have
Speaker 2: I lost? What have I lost? The third you're gonna
Speaker 2: have is shock? What do I do now? I can't
Speaker 2: believe this is happening. I just can't believe it. And
Speaker 2: the fourth is fear? What's going to happen next? When
Speaker 2: you have these four things anger and grief and shock
Speaker 2: and fear, what am I supposed to do with them?
Speaker 2: You express them to God. That's the first thing you
Speaker 2: need to do. You don't suppress it. You don't repress it.
Speaker 2: You don't express it. You know, vomit it on somebody else.
Speaker 2: You confess it. You tell God how ticked off you are.
Speaker 2: And you know what, here's a little surprise for you.
Speaker 2: God can handle your anger. God can handle your frustration.
Speaker 2: He can handle your emotions. You know why God can
Speaker 2: handle your emotions because He gave them to you. The
Speaker 2: only reason you have emotions is because you're made in
Speaker 2: the image of God, and God is an emotional God.
Speaker 2: God has feelings. Did you know that God has feelings.
Speaker 2: The only reason you get sadness because God has sadness.
Speaker 2: The only reason you can get angry is because God
Speaker 2: gets angry. God gets frustrated. God's patience is tested. God
Speaker 2: understands all of these things because God is an emotional God,
Speaker 2: and God can handle your anger. It's like a little
Speaker 2: two year old having a temper tantrum beating on the
Speaker 2: knees of a parent. A parent can handle that. And
Speaker 2: God is bigger than your emotion. So it's okay to
Speaker 2: tell God exactly how you feel. And when you've prayed
Speaker 2: for a promotion and it didn't happen, and when a
Speaker 2: loved one walks out of your life, and you've been
Speaker 2: betrayed and you've been rejected, when you've been laid off,
Speaker 2: when you get the dreaded call it's cancer and all,
Speaker 2: it's okay to tell God, God, I'm mad, I'm upset,
Speaker 2: I'm sick, I'm frustrated, I'm ticked off. I doubt God
Speaker 2: can handle your complaints. He can handle your questions, he
Speaker 2: can handle your fear, he can handle your doubt. He
Speaker 2: can handle your grief because God's love for you is
Speaker 2: bigger than all your emotions.
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: The Bible says children are a gift from the Lord.
Speaker 3: Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or kids in
Speaker 3: your neighborhood that need to know God loves them and
Speaker 3: has a good plan for their lives. You can help
Speaker 3: them get closer to God by encouraging them to read
Speaker 3: His word. That's why we're so excited to tell you
Speaker 3: about a very special resource just for kids called God's
Speaker 3: Big Plans for Me. It's a storybook Bible by Pastor
Speaker 3: Rick Warren. This two hundred and twenty three page hardcovered
Speaker 3: children's book includes forty well loved Bible stories to help
Speaker 3: kids engage with God's word. Each Bible story has an
Speaker 3: introduction from Pastor Rick that helps young readers understand the
Speaker 3: Word of God and has a closing thought with a
Speaker 3: practical step boys and girls can take to discover God's
Speaker 3: Big Plans for them. Their eyes will light up as
Speaker 3: they turn the beautifully illustrated pages and really start to
Speaker 3: get what God wants to say to their young hearts
Speaker 3: and minds. God's Big Plans for Me is so much
Speaker 3: more than just a book filled with cute pictures of
Speaker 3: Bible characters. It's a fun and effective way to introduce
Speaker 3: children to God's everlasting truth. This book makes a great gift.
Speaker 3: You'll want to get a copy for every child in
Speaker 3: your life. And today, when you give a gift to
Speaker 3: help Pastor Rick's daily hope take the certain hope of
Speaker 3: Jesus Christ around the world, We'll send you a copy
Speaker 3: of God's Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible to say thanks.
Speaker 3: To get your copy of this great resource, just call
Speaker 3: eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four or go
Speaker 3: to Pastorick dot com to get yours. That's eight hundred
Speaker 3: six hundred five zero zero four or Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Thanks in advance for your support your gift to Daily
Speaker 3: Hope pulpsa shared the hope of Christ with people around
Speaker 3: the world. There's only two days left to get God's
Speaker 3: Big plans for me storybook Bible, So don't wait.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: Another thing I love about Job is he's flat out
Speaker 2: brutally honest. He doesn't mens around with words Job Chapter seven,
Speaker 2: verse eleven, Job says when he had lost it all
Speaker 2: in one day, he says, I can't be quiet. I'm angry,
Speaker 2: I'm bitter. I have to speak. In other words, if
Speaker 2: I don't speak, I'm gonna pop. You see, when you
Speaker 2: have nagad emotions in your life, if you swallow your emotions,
Speaker 2: your stomach keeps score. If you don't talk it out
Speaker 2: to God, you're going to take it out on your
Speaker 2: body and to have all the emotions like you just
Speaker 2: had a major disappointment. You spent all your money building
Speaker 2: a business and it went bankrupt. And you go, wait
Speaker 2: a minute, I prayed for this and I ask God
Speaker 2: to bless it. What's going on here? And you're angry
Speaker 2: and you're upset. That's like shaking up a coke bottle.
Speaker 2: If you don't express it to God, it's going to
Speaker 2: come out sideways in some weird behavior six months down
Speaker 2: the road, in a compulsion and an addiction, in an affair,
Speaker 2: and some other self destructive behavior. It will express itself
Speaker 2: one way or the other. You need to get it out.
Speaker 2: So Job says, I can't be quiet. I'm angry and bitter.
Speaker 2: I got to speak. And if you study the book
Speaker 2: of Job, Job starts off with confusion, why is this
Speaker 2: happening to me? And then he goes to complaining I
Speaker 2: don't like what's happening to me. It finally starts making
Speaker 2: bold accusations of God. God, you're not a nice God,
Speaker 2: and God just takes it all. He handles it. You see.
Speaker 2: The right response to unexplained tragedy is not grin and barrett.
Speaker 2: Some people think everything happened goes wrong in your life.
Speaker 2: You're just supposed to say, well, praise the Lord. Now,
Speaker 2: that's insincere, that's fake, that's phony, that's fault. God wants
Speaker 2: you to be authentic with him. God's not looking for
Speaker 2: pious platitudes, but he's honestly interested in your honest struggles
Speaker 2: with him. Now, I know what I'm going to tell
Speaker 2: you next is going to shock you. I have three children,
Speaker 2: and this surprise you. But sometimes they question my judgment.
Speaker 2: Can you believe that they question my judgment? Now? My
Speaker 2: kids never doubt that I love them. They know I
Speaker 2: love them, and they never doubt that I've been on
Speaker 2: this planet longer than they have, and they never doubt
Speaker 2: that I've had more experience than they have. But sometimes
Speaker 2: they do question my wisdom. And you know what, I'd
Speaker 2: rather have an honest, gut level conversation with them than
Speaker 2: have them stuff it. And so would God. God would
Speaker 2: rather have you wrestle with him in anger than walk
Speaker 2: away in detached apathy. Wrestling is a contact sport in
Speaker 2: the Bible. When Jacob wrestles with God, God doesn't mind
Speaker 2: that because wrestling you're up front, you're in close contact,
Speaker 2: you're up there together. God would rather have you voicing
Speaker 2: your doubts and fears and being up close to him
Speaker 2: then walk away and be the silent person and be
Speaker 2: apathetic and just detached. Lamentations Chapter two, verse nineteen says,
Speaker 2: this cry out in the night, pour out your heart
Speaker 2: like water poured out like water in prayer to the Lord.
Speaker 2: When was the last time you cried out in the night.
Speaker 2: When was the last time you poured out your heart
Speaker 2: like water to God? You know, in the Bible there
Speaker 2: are many, many examples of godly people who expressed their
Speaker 2: frustration to God and God handled it. It's okay, God
Speaker 2: can handle it. One time, Jeremiah says, God, you deceived me.
Speaker 2: I think you lied to me. I think you promised this,
Speaker 2: but this happened here. I think you deceived me. God,
Speaker 2: God handled it. Naomi once time said one times said
Speaker 2: call me bitter, because God has made my life bitter. Yes,
Speaker 2: she got around, she came around, but in that moment,
Speaker 2: that's the way she felt. One time, David said, I've
Speaker 2: taken the worst you can hand out God, and I'm
Speaker 2: fed up. That's it. But he always came back. And
Speaker 2: the same thing with Job. Although Job questioned God's wisdom
Speaker 2: and wonders what's going on on and he's spouting off
Speaker 2: and he's admitting all his frustrations, he's still in the
Speaker 2: root of his life. Trust God. But that's the first step.
Speaker 2: You got to get it out. Step number two. Second
Speaker 2: thing you do when you feel like giving up, and
Speaker 2: you need the power and the courage keep on is
Speaker 2: accept help from others. That's the second thing Job does.
Speaker 2: You need to accept help from others because God doesn't
Speaker 2: intend for you to handle all the pain, or all
Speaker 2: the loss, or all the stress in your life by yourself.
Speaker 2: We were wired for each other, We need each other.
Speaker 2: We are social beings. The first thing God said in
Speaker 2: the Garden of edenus it's not good for men to
Speaker 2: be alone. We're made to be in relationships. Here's the problem.
Speaker 2: When you go through a major disappointment, you don't want
Speaker 2: to tell anybody about it. When you go through a
Speaker 2: major loss, the natural human reaction is to pull back,
Speaker 2: to isolate it. I'll handle it by myself. I don't
Speaker 2: need anybody else. I'll answer you want to keep it
Speaker 2: a secret. When you've had a loss, a failure, a mistake,
Speaker 2: a crisis, you typically pull in and isolate. Bad idea,
Speaker 2: bad idea. The natural reaction is withdrawal. When God says no, no,
Speaker 2: you need friends in your life at that point. Job
Speaker 2: chapter six says this verse fourteen. When desperate people give
Speaker 2: up on God Almighty, their friends at least should stick
Speaker 2: with them. I love that verse, God says, even if
Speaker 2: you don't believe in God at that point, you still
Speaker 2: need good friends to stick with you. A friend walks
Speaker 2: in when everybody else walks out, and you need people
Speaker 2: in your life. The new International version says, even a
Speaker 2: despairing man deserves the devotion of his friends, even if
Speaker 2: he forsakes Almighty God the fear of their minds. In
Speaker 2: other words, there will be times in your life when
Speaker 2: you are in so much pain you go, I don't
Speaker 2: even believe in God right now. Okay, you need to
Speaker 2: have some friends to say, that's all right, we'll believe
Speaker 2: God for you right now. There are gonna be times,
Speaker 2: you know, I say I don't have any faith right now,
Speaker 2: I'm just full of doubt. I don't have any faith.
Speaker 2: That's when you need people. Go that's okay, we will
Speaker 2: have faith for you. We will trust God for you
Speaker 2: in this moment. This is why you need a small group.
Speaker 2: Small group is a safety net in this church. Thirty
Speaker 2: two thousand people in this church are in small groups.
Speaker 2: I don't worry about them. I worry about those of
Speaker 2: you who aren't in a small group, because when the
Speaker 2: crisis comes, who's going to pull you through You See,
Speaker 2: you haven't helped anybody else through their crisis, So who's
Speaker 2: going to help you? This is why we need each other.
Speaker 2: The Bible says in one Thessalonians five eleven, encourage each
Speaker 2: other and give each other strength. Now that's a command
Speaker 2: God commands us to bear each there's burdens. I'm supposed
Speaker 2: to help you when you're going through your losses and
Speaker 2: tough times, and you're supposed to help me when I
Speaker 2: go through my losses and help in tough times. And
Speaker 2: that's why we need small groups. Now, I've been in
Speaker 2: the group i'm in for many, many years. But I'll
Speaker 2: be honest with you. Sometimes I don't want to go
Speaker 2: to a small group. I don't feel like going to
Speaker 2: small group. Now you never felt that, I know. But
Speaker 2: sometimes I am so tired. I'd like to just lay
Speaker 2: on the couch and watch TV tonight. And I don't
Speaker 2: always feel like going to group. But you know what,
Speaker 2: I have never been to a group that I didn't go.
Speaker 2: I got something out of that I needed that. And
Speaker 2: usually when I don't want to go, when I need
Speaker 2: it the most. We are to encourage each other. Look
Speaker 2: at the next verse. By helping each other with your troubles.
Speaker 2: You obey the law of Christ. What is the law
Speaker 2: of Christ. It's this love your neighbor as yourself. That's
Speaker 2: the law of Christ mentioned about seven times in the Bible.
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 Pastorick dot com
Speaker 1: and listen online anytime. Rick will be back to close
Speaker 1: out our time today. But first, the Bible says children
Speaker 1: are a gift from the Lord. Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews,
Speaker 1: or kids in your neighborhood that need to know God
Speaker 1: loves them and has a good plan for their lives.
Speaker 1: You can help them get closer to God by encouraging
Speaker 1: them to read God's Word. That's why we're so excited
Speaker 1: to tell you about a very special resource just for
Speaker 1: kids called God's Big Plans for Me. It's a storybook
Speaker 1: Bible by Pastor Rick Warren. This two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: three page hardcovered children's book includes forty well loved Bible
Speaker 1: stories to help kids engage with God's Word. Each Bible
Speaker 1: story has an introduction from Pastor Rick that helps young
Speaker 1: readers understand the Word of God and a closing thought
Speaker 1: with a practical step boys and girls can take to
Speaker 1: discover God's Big Plans for them. Their eyes will light
Speaker 1: up as they turn the beautifully illustrated pages and really
Speaker 1: start to get what God wants to say to their
Speaker 1: young hearts and minds. God's Big Plans for Me is
Speaker 1: so much more than just a book filled with cute
Speaker 1: pictures of Bible characters. It's a fun and effective way
Speaker 1: to introduce children to God's ever lasting truth. This book
Speaker 1: makes a great gift. You'll want to get a copy
Speaker 1: for every child in your life. And today, when you
Speaker 1: give a gift to help Pastor Rick's daily hope take
Speaker 1: the certain hope of Jesus Christ around the world, will
Speaker 1: send you a copy of God's Big Plans for Me
Speaker 1: Storybook by b To say thanks. To get your copy
Speaker 1: of this great resource, just call eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 1: five thousand and four or go to Pastorick dot com
Speaker 1: to get yours. That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand
Speaker 1: and four or Pastorrick dot com. There's only two days
Speaker 1: left to get God's big plans for me storybook Bible,
Speaker 1: so don't wait. Here's Pastor Rick with a letter from
Speaker 1: one of our listeners.
Speaker 2: I want to say thanks to all of you who
Speaker 2: are supporting Daily Hope Ministry with your financial gifts and
Speaker 2: with your prayers. I know you appreciate these notes that
Speaker 2: I get from people around the world as much as
Speaker 2: I do. Let me just share one with you from
Speaker 2: a woman named Anna who is an elementary school principal,
Speaker 2: and she just wrote this. You're Pastor Rick. I became
Speaker 2: a principal in an elementary school at the age of
Speaker 2: twenty five. I'm now forty two. Now. We've had Rick
Speaker 2: Warren Bible Series and st at our church during the summers,
Speaker 2: and I always enjoyed them so much, and I've invited
Speaker 2: many friends and relatives to visit our church. A couple
Speaker 2: years ago, I began to share your devotion Daily Hope
Speaker 2: with all of my staff members each morning. See she's
Speaker 2: a principle, she's sharing this with her staff. She said.
Speaker 2: I've seen their growth in God. I've seen the transformation
Speaker 2: and their lives and characters over these past years, and
Speaker 2: I'm amazed at the Lord's love and mercy. That doesn't
Speaker 2: mean that we haven't struggled with issues such as death
Speaker 2: and depression and disappointments and illness things like that. However,
Speaker 2: we have had our eyes on God during all of
Speaker 2: the things that have come against us, and this has
Speaker 2: made a difference. I pray with them during our staff
Speaker 2: meetings to give thanks. So Pastor Rick, I just want
Speaker 2: to thank you for following God's calling. Even though you
Speaker 2: go through struggles and life problems just like we all do.
Speaker 2: God is with you. May the Lord continue to bless
Speaker 2: you and your beautiful family. May continue to bless you
Speaker 2: with wisdom and discernment so that you're able to share
Speaker 2: your gift with all of us. Blessings, Anna, Well, Anna,
Speaker 2: God bless you. Thanks for writing. I love getting these
Speaker 2: letters and you actually encouraged me. And I love the
Speaker 2: fact that as a principle, you're sharing the broadcast and
Speaker 2: you're sharing the devotionals with your staff. This makes you
Speaker 2: a partner in this ministry, and I thank you for
Speaker 2: doing that. I want to encourage everybody else's listening, find
Speaker 2: somebody that you could share the good news with, tell
Speaker 2: them about daily hope. God bless you.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast
Speaker 1: has blessed your life. Please write it at Rick at
Speaker 1: pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at pastorrick dot com. Be
Speaker 1: sure to join us next time as we look into
Speaker 1: God's word for our Daily hope. This program is sponsored
Speaker 1: by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.