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. Now,
Speaker 1: in just a bit, we're going to tell you how
Speaker 1: you can get a very special copy of Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: number one selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, with a
Speaker 1: classic leather cover. As you journey through this book, you'll
Speaker 1: discover the purposes you were created for and begin living
Speaker 1: the life of significance you were meant to live. This
Speaker 1: is a limited time offer, so go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com right now to find out more, or text the
Speaker 1: word Hope to eight hundred, six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 1: Now here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part of
Speaker 1: a message called how to trust God when you don't
Speaker 1: like the changes in your life.
Speaker 2: You get wisdom from two sources. Number one. Write this down,
Speaker 2: two sources number one, Ask God two words. Write it down.
Speaker 2: Ask God okay, Ask God okay to help me see
Speaker 2: his perspective. Ask God to make you wise. James one
Speaker 2: to five says this, if you need wisdom, just ask God.
Speaker 2: Ask God, when was the last time you asked God
Speaker 2: to make you a wise man? When was the last
Speaker 2: time you ask God to make you a wise woman?
Speaker 2: Ask God for wisdom. God is generous, He'll gladly tell
Speaker 2: you what you need. But then after you ask God,
Speaker 2: you got to do the second thing, and that is
Speaker 2: learn from God's word and those who teach it. The
Speaker 2: wisdom is in this book. Now, this book sitting closed
Speaker 2: in your in your library or on your coffee table
Speaker 2: doesn't do you any good. This book is only good
Speaker 2: if you open it. But all the wisdom you need
Speaker 2: to handle the stress and the change in life is here.
Speaker 2: Second Peter, Chapter one, verse nineteen. Some of you maybe
Speaker 2: have never even seen this verse says this, we have
Speaker 2: greater confidence in the message of the prophets. What's the
Speaker 2: message of the prophets. It's the Bible, God inspired prophets,
Speaker 2: godly ment to write down what God wanted them to
Speaker 2: write down. We call it the Old Testament of the
Speaker 2: New Testament. God inspired the message of the prophets. This
Speaker 2: is the Bible, God's word. And he says there we
Speaker 2: have greater conference. In the message of the prophets, pay
Speaker 2: close attention. Take a note circle that word, pay close
Speaker 2: attention that phrase to what they wrote for their words
Speaker 2: are like a light shining in a dark place. I
Speaker 2: don't know how much how dark are our culture is
Speaker 2: gonna get. I'm not a soothsayer, but it does say
Speaker 2: when things get dark, you need to go to the light.
Speaker 2: And the light is here, not anywhere else. It says,
Speaker 2: pay close attention. Let me just ask you, very honestly,
Speaker 2: as somebody who loves you as your friend, what do
Speaker 2: you pay the most attention to these days? The radio,
Speaker 2: talk radio, the media, social media, or God's word? What
Speaker 2: are you paying the most attention to? You're gonna be
Speaker 2: a whole lot less stressed out. You're gonna be a
Speaker 2: lot more at peace if you go to the source
Speaker 2: of truth. That's the third thing you need to do.
Speaker 2: Second thing you need to do, third thing. Write this down.
Speaker 2: Instead of asking why is all this happening? Ask God?
Speaker 2: What do you want me to learn? Instead of going
Speaker 2: to God? Why are you allowing this pandemic? Why are
Speaker 2: you allowing the social problems? Why are you allowing people
Speaker 2: to be at each other's throat. People are angry. They're
Speaker 2: arguing over this and that and this and that and why.
Speaker 2: Instead of asking why is this happening? Asked, what do
Speaker 2: you want me to learn? God doesn't know us an
Speaker 2: explanation and why he does everything in the world, or
Speaker 2: why he allows everything in the world. So here's what
Speaker 2: I recommend to you. Focus on your character, not the
Speaker 2: changes in society, not the circumstances around you. Romans eight.
Speaker 2: Excuse me, Romans five, Verses three and four. It's up
Speaker 2: here on the screen. We can rejoice even in our
Speaker 2: troubles and our struggles, troubles and struggles. Does that sound familiar.
Speaker 2: We've had eighteen months as troubles and struggles. He says.
Speaker 2: We can rejoice even in our troubles and struggles because
Speaker 2: we know this is wisdom that they teach us. We
Speaker 2: learn endurance. That we learn endurance. They teach us endurance,
Speaker 2: and endurance develops strength of character and character creates hope.
Speaker 2: I want you to notice a couple of things about
Speaker 2: this verse. Okay. Number one, notice that life is a struggle.
Speaker 2: Everybody agree with that life's tough. We shouldn't expect it
Speaker 2: to be any less. We live on a broken planet.
Speaker 2: This is not heaven. There's no struggle in heaven. This
Speaker 2: is earth. Everything's a struggle on Earth. We can rejoice
Speaker 2: even in our struggles and troubles. By the way, have
Speaker 2: you ever wondered why our struggles are so relentless? The
Speaker 2: answer is is because God wants to change us and
Speaker 2: we don't want to change. That's why we struggle, because
Speaker 2: we don't want to surrender to the will of God
Speaker 2: in our lives. God wants to change us and we
Speaker 2: don't want to change, so we struggle. Now, the second
Speaker 2: thing I want you to notice that of that verse
Speaker 2: is that if we develop character, if you develop character,
Speaker 2: you become a person of character, you'll be full of hope.
Speaker 2: You'll be full of hope. But if you just complain
Speaker 2: about why everything sucks in the world today, you're going
Speaker 2: to be full of doubt and unhappiness. Wise, mature people
Speaker 2: with perspective, people of character are hopeful people.
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 Org.
Speaker 3: Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or
Speaker 3: what on earth are you here for? Master Rick says
Speaker 3: God has a good plan and purpose for your life,
Speaker 3: and in 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 that you
Speaker 3: were meant to live. For a limited time, we are
Speaker 3: offering this timeless classic and a special leather edition featuring
Speaker 3: gold foiled cover art and gilded pages. It's a great
Speaker 3: addition to your personal library and it also makes a
Speaker 3: wonderful gift with eternal benefits. Get your special edition of
Speaker 3: The Purpose Driven Life with a beautiful leather cover today
Speaker 3: as a thing thank you for your gift to help
Speaker 3: take the hope of Jesus to people around the world
Speaker 3: through daily Hope. Today is the last day to get
Speaker 3: this great resource, so don't wait visit Pastororrick dot com
Speaker 3: or call eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero
Speaker 3: four to get your special edition of The Purpose Driven
Speaker 3: Life with a beautiful leather cover and all this month,
Speaker 3: any gift you give will be matched by very generous
Speaker 3: friends up to one hundred thousand dollars. This matching grand
Speaker 3: is only available until midnight December thirty first, so please
Speaker 3: contact us today again, that's Pastororrick dot com or call
Speaker 3: eight hundred at six hundred at five zero zero four.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for your support, and don't forget
Speaker 3: to tell us that you listen to Daily Hope on
Speaker 3: the radio.
Speaker 1: Now let's get back to today's lesson. Here on Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 2: Why mature people with perspective, people of character, are hopeful people.
Speaker 2: Unwise immature people are scared and bitter people, and they're
Speaker 2: picked off at the world and everybody in it, or
Speaker 2: at least half of the world. I want us to
Speaker 2: not be at that level where we don't get ticked
Speaker 2: off at people who disagree with us. No, I want
Speaker 2: us to get to Paul's level of spiritual maturity, which
Speaker 2: is Philippians chapter four. There on your outline Paul says,
Speaker 2: I've learned. Pause right here, circle the word learned. We'll
Speaker 2: come back to that. This is something you learn See,
Speaker 2: Ask God, what do you want me to learn? I've
Speaker 2: learned this secret so that anywhere, at any time, I'm content,
Speaker 2: whether I'm full or hungry, or whether I have too
Speaker 2: much or too little, I have the strength to face
Speaker 2: all conditions by the power Chris. Give me that, my friends.
Speaker 2: Its stability and its maturity. That's what God's trying to
Speaker 2: bring in our lives. And we'll either learn it fast
Speaker 2: or we'll learn it slow. Now I said, circle that
Speaker 2: word learned. He says, I've learned to trust God. I've
Speaker 2: learned to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in. Have
Speaker 2: you learned this yet? Have you grown up enough to
Speaker 2: learn to be content in whatever circumstance you're in? Let
Speaker 2: me ask you another question, says ask God, what you
Speaker 2: want to learn? What have you learned about yourself in
Speaker 2: the last eighteen months? Not what have you learned about
Speaker 2: the world? What have you learned about you? And your response?
Speaker 2: I want you to write this down. Every situation is
Speaker 2: an education. Every situation is an education. There is no
Speaker 2: experience in life you can't learn from. If you'll just
Speaker 2: have an humble attitude, there is no situation, big or small,
Speaker 2: There is no problem, there is no change that you
Speaker 2: cannot learn from, if you'll just humbly say, Lord, what
Speaker 2: do you want me to learn? Every education? Every situation
Speaker 2: is in education. Number four. Let me give you the
Speaker 2: last two quickly. Number four. When you're going through changes
Speaker 2: you don't like, focus on what never changes. Focus on
Speaker 2: what never changes. Yeah, there are a lot of changes
Speaker 2: going on in our world right now, and a lot
Speaker 2: of them we don't like. They suck. I started to
Speaker 2: title this message you know how to trust God when
Speaker 2: life sucks. There are many things that you don't like
Speaker 2: that are changing, but there's also many things that will
Speaker 2: never never, never, never never change. And when you're going
Speaker 2: through a time of great change, relentless like we're talking about,
Speaker 2: and rapid.
Speaker 3: Then.
Speaker 2: When you're going through that kind of change, you need
Speaker 2: to let the unchangeables be your anchor. What's anchoring you
Speaker 2: right now? You need to let the unchangeable things that
Speaker 2: are never going to change be your anchor in this
Speaker 2: time of uncertainty. Now I could give you a bunch
Speaker 2: of them. Let me just mention three. God's love for
Speaker 2: you will never change. God's truth in his word will
Speaker 2: never change. God's plan and purpose for your life will
Speaker 2: never change. Nothing can change those things. Look at these
Speaker 2: three verses. Jeremiah thirty one three. I've loved you with
Speaker 2: an ever lasting love. Nothing's ever going to change that.
Speaker 2: He's never going to stop loving you no matter what happens.
Speaker 2: Isaiah forty, verse eight. The word of God shall stand forever.
Speaker 2: What he said is the right thing to do will
Speaker 2: always be the right thing to do. And what he
Speaker 2: said is the wrong thing to do will always be
Speaker 2: the wrong thing to do the Word of God will
Speaker 2: stand forever. So I'm thirty three eleven. His plans endure forever,
Speaker 2: and his purposes last eternally. Friends, I'm not a prophet,
Speaker 2: and I don't predict the future, but I will tell
Speaker 2: you this, and you can bank on this. God will
Speaker 2: have the last word, and it's going to be good.
Speaker 2: You can count on that. God will have the last word,
Speaker 2: and it's going to be good. It's going to be good.
Speaker 2: When you find someone who feels hopeless, it means they're
Speaker 2: immature and unwise. Wise people who see from God's perspective
Speaker 2: are always hopeful, no matter what it looks like. Not optimistic, hopeful,
Speaker 2: big difference. I don't have time to go into that.
Speaker 2: Number five. Here's the fifth thing you need to do.
Speaker 2: Keep telling God. In other words, say to this to God,
Speaker 2: over and over every day of your life. I trust
Speaker 2: you no matter what. Keep telling God, I trust you
Speaker 2: no matter what. If you do this, you'll be a
Speaker 2: lot more at peace, no matter what happens and how
Speaker 2: long all these period of this season of rapid change lasts.
Speaker 2: If you do this, God, I trust you no matter what.
Speaker 2: I want you to be a righteous person. Some one
Speaker 2: twelve verse seven says this, the righteous man or a
Speaker 2: woman does not fear bad news nor live in dread
Speaker 2: of what might happen, for he is settled in his
Speaker 2: mind or her mind that God will take care of him.
Speaker 2: I will trust you no matter what. I have had
Speaker 2: to say that thousands of times in my life. I
Speaker 2: will trust you no matter what. When our youngest child
Speaker 2: lost his lifelong battle with mental illness and took his life,
Speaker 2: I had to say, I will trust you no matter what.
Speaker 2: Doesn't mean I understand it, and a thousand other times,
Speaker 2: I will trust you no matter what, anytime, anything seems
Speaker 2: to be falling apart in your life, my friends say,
Speaker 2: I trust you no matter what. Now. Right now, you
Speaker 2: may feel under attacked. I'm not talking about all the
Speaker 2: stuff we all know what's going on stuff in society.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about stuff in your personal life, and you
Speaker 2: may feel like you're being attacked from every angle. I
Speaker 2: leave you with Psalm twenty seven, verse three. Even if
Speaker 2: a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid,
Speaker 2: And even if enemies attack me from all sides, I
Speaker 2: will still trust God. That's the kind of life I'm
Speaker 2: going to live. I invite you to live it with me.
Speaker 2: Let's be different than the world. What's power heads. Even
Speaker 2: if a whole army surround me, I will not be afraid,
Speaker 2: And even if enemies attack me from all sides, I
Speaker 2: will still trust God. The righteous man does not fear
Speaker 2: bad news nor live in dread of what may happen,
Speaker 2: for he is settled in his mind that God God
Speaker 2: will take care of him. Follow me in this prayer.
Speaker 2: Just say it in your mind. Say, Dear God, I
Speaker 2: know change is unavoidable, but I thank you that you
Speaker 2: have promised to use it for good in my life.
Speaker 2: If I trust you God. I want to grow up.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be a spiritual baby. I want
Speaker 2: you to make me more like Jesus, with love and
Speaker 2: joy and peace and patience, goodness of self control and faith.
Speaker 2: And God, you know the people who've hurt me in
Speaker 2: my life, and I thank you that you can even
Speaker 2: use human error and sin for good if I give
Speaker 2: it all to you. Help me to realize that what
Speaker 2: I'm going through right now is a test of my faith.
Speaker 2: You're testing me and then endurance produces character, and character
Speaker 2: produces hope. Help me to remember these things. And Lord,
Speaker 2: I want to start doing these practical steps during these
Speaker 2: difficult days. I want to invest more time alone with you,
Speaker 2: because those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.
Speaker 2: Run and not grow weary, walk, keep going and not faint.
Speaker 2: And God, I'm asking you to help me see your perspective.
Speaker 2: I don't want to just know what everybody else knows.
Speaker 2: I don't want information. I want wisdom. I want understanding.
Speaker 2: I want to know your ways, God and Father. Instead
Speaker 2: of asking and griping about what why is all this
Speaker 2: going on? I want to ask, what do you want
Speaker 2: me to learn? Like Paul, I want to learn to
Speaker 2: be content in any and every situation, no matter what happens.
Speaker 2: That you are my stability and you are my energy.
Speaker 2: Help me to focus on what never changes. Thank you
Speaker 2: that your word will always be the truth. Thank you
Speaker 2: that you will never stop loving me. Thank you that
Speaker 2: nothing that happens can change your plan or purpose for
Speaker 2: my life. And God, I'm going to tell you the
Speaker 2: rest of my life, including right now. I trust you
Speaker 2: no matter what. I'm going to trust you no matter what.
Speaker 2: Maybe you're doing that for the very first time tonight,
Speaker 2: say Jesus Christ. I'm trusting you no matter what. You're
Speaker 2: opening your life to Christ. Others you're doing it again.
Speaker 2: I trust you. I'm going to trust you no matter what.
Speaker 2: I surrender myself to you in your name. I prayed. Amen.
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 2: today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer
Speaker 2: for the very first time, or you just recommitted your
Speaker 2: life to Jesus again today, would you let me know
Speaker 2: about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So
Speaker 2: write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,
Speaker 2: I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life
Speaker 2: to Christ, and I'll send you some material that will
Speaker 2: help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also
Speaker 2: pray for you. God bless you.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy
Speaker 1: you've chosen to study along with us today. You know
Speaker 1: you can get hope and encouragement from Pastor Rick delivered
Speaker 1: to your inbox every day. Just go to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com and sign up for his free daily devotional. Rick
Speaker 1: will be right back to close out our time today.
Speaker 1: But first, do you ever wonder if your life really matters?
Speaker 1: Or what on earth am I here for? Pastor Rick
Speaker 1: says God has a good plan and purpose for your life,
Speaker 1: and in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 1: he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your
Speaker 1: spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick to tell you more.
Speaker 2: One of the things that I've discovered is that everybody
Speaker 2: eventually asks the questions of significance. Why am I here?
Speaker 2: And what is my purpose? What on earth am I
Speaker 2: here for? That's why I wrote the book Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 2: because I wanted to help people like you understand how
Speaker 2: God created us for five eternal purposes. The Bible says
Speaker 2: that long before we heard of Christ, he had his
Speaker 2: eye on us, had his designs on us for glorious living.
Speaker 2: That it was part of his overall purpose that he's
Speaker 2: working out in everything and everyone. God has never made
Speaker 2: a person that he doesn't have a purpose for. You know,
Speaker 2: that simple message needs to be shared with the whole
Speaker 2: new generation. A young girl who was twelve years old
Speaker 2: when I wrote Purpose Driven Life is now twenty two,
Speaker 2: and she needs to hear this essential message that God
Speaker 2: has a plan, has a purpose, and has a reason
Speaker 2: for everything that happens in our lives. So I've updated
Speaker 2: the Purpose Driven Life. And what I did is, after
Speaker 2: reading hundreds of thousands of comments that have come into
Speaker 2: me over the past decade, I've added two new chapters.
Speaker 2: It'll help you handle the two most common problems and
Speaker 2: barriers to living a life of purpose. Now I want
Speaker 2: you to have this newly revised, expanded copy of Purpose
Speaker 2: Driven Life. I think you'll find it's a fresh reminder
Speaker 2: of things that you may have forgotten when you first
Speaker 2: read it. Or you might want to give the book
Speaker 2: to somebody who has never read and is struggling to
Speaker 2: find their purpose.
Speaker 1: For a limited time, we're offering this timeless classic in
Speaker 1: a special leather edition featuring gold foil cover art and
Speaker 1: gilded pages. It's a great addition to your personal library,
Speaker 1: and it also makes a wonderful gift with eternal benefits.
Speaker 1: Get your special edition of The Purpose Driven Life with
Speaker 1: a beautiful leather cover today as a thank you for
Speaker 1: your gift to help take the Hope of Jesus to
Speaker 1: people around the world through Daily Hope. Today is the
Speaker 1: last day to get this great resource, so don't wait.
Speaker 1: Go to pastorick dot com right now to get your copy.
Speaker 1: That's Pastororik dot com. Or you can call eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand four. That's eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 1: five thousand four. And all this month, any gift you
Speaker 1: give will be matched by very generous friends up to
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars. This matching grant is only available
Speaker 1: until midnight December thirty first, so please contact us today again.
Speaker 1: That's Pastororick dot com, or you can call eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand four that's eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 1: five thousand four. Thank you so much for your support,
Speaker 1: and don't forget to tell us you listen to Daily
Speaker 1: Hope on the radio. Be sure to join us next
Speaker 1: time as we look into God's word for our daily hope.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 1: your generous financial support.