WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:06.200 Hey, everyone, thanks for joining us today on Pastor Rick's 2 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:07.120 Daily Hope. 3 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.359 This is the place. 4 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:12.039 Where Rick Warren brings you uplifting messages from God's Word 5 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:15.759 every day to help you grow deeper in faith and 6 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:19.640 live a life with purpose. Today we're continuing in a 7 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:24.320 powerful series called Toolbox for Life. In this series, Rick 8 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:28.600 teaches us four essential skills that you need to succeed 9 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:32.759 wherever God has placed you, whether it's at home, at work, 10 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:36.520 at school, or in your community. These are tools that 11 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:41.520 every follower of Jesus absolutely needs. I can't wait to 12 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:45.200 get right into today's message. So here's Rick with the 13 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:49.439 final part of a message called maximizing your Strengths. 14 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:53.119 Now, how do I discover how God shaped me for 15 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:55.960 my purpose in life? Two things? Write these down. Number 16 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:01.759 one First, by examining my past. By examining my past, 17 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:03.640 one of the ways to know God's will for your 18 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.000 future is by looking at your past, not at the 19 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:10.400 events that happened to you, but at the things that 20 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.840 you work good at. Galatians three, verse four in the 21 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.519 Bible says this, you have experience. 22 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:17.640 That's what we're talking about. 23 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:22.719 You've experienced many things where all those experiences wasted God says, 24 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:24.040 I don't want you to waste your experiences. 25 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:25.480 I want you to learn from them. 26 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.079 The fact is God has been working in your life 27 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:34.359 since your birth. Actually even before you were born. God 28 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.519 started working in your life long before you knew there 29 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:39.079 was a God. He started working in your life long 30 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.319 before you accepted Christ into your heart. He's been working 31 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.159 to shape you for the purpose He made you for 32 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.959 your life mission from the very beginning. And so you 33 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.680 need to go back. And here's what the Bible says 34 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:57.959 Galatians six y four. Everyone should examine circle the word examine. 35 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:02.879 Examine his own conduct, not somebody else's, not your parents. 36 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.400 Examine your own conduct. In other words, what are you 37 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:07.599 good at and what are you not good at? Then 38 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.639 he will be able to take the measure of his 39 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:16.280 own worth with no need to compare himself to others. 40 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.000 God says, you don't compare yourself to o this. What 41 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.400 did my sister do? What's my brother good at? What's 42 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:22.080 my dad? 43 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:22.560 My mom? 44 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.919 Gonna forget that, You look at your own past, You 45 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.159 examine your own conduct, and then you can take a 46 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.319 full measure of your own worth. Here's my homework for you. 47 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:35.560 Pastor Rick's homework assignment this week. I want you to 48 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.919 take half an hour this week and sit down with 49 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.520 a piece of paper, just a blank piece of paper, 50 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.199 and make a rule it off by every ten years 51 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.400 the first ten years you know, grade school, second ten 52 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.960 years junior high and high school, third years, your twenties 53 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.560 and then forties for how many you know, decades you've lived. 54 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:56.400 And then I want to ask you to try to 55 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.159 do a life inventory. 56 00:02:58.599 --> 00:02:59.479 Now what does that mean. 57 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.840 It means you do exactly what that versus examine your 58 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.479 own concept. And what you do is you look and 59 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:08.479 you say, what was I good at at each stage 60 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.599 in my life? And what did I enjoy doing at 61 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:13.680 each stage in my life? Here are the two things. 62 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:17.719 I'm good at it and I enjoy doing it. Now, 63 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:21.800 there's some things that you're good at and you don't enjoy. 64 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.479 Don't worry about that, okay. 65 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.080 And there's some things, by the way, that you enjoy 66 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.879 and you're not good at. I mean, many of you 67 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:33.759 don't know that before I was a pastor, I was 68 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:36.840 a worship leader. I've played guitar and drums all my life, 69 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.719 had garage bands all the time growing up, junior high, 70 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.280 high school, and college, and I actually started off leading 71 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.039 worship because I have a passion and I love to sing. 72 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:49.879 The only problem was nobody liked to listen to it. 73 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.719 So I love to do it, but I wasn't good 74 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:59.039 at it and I didn't have the skills for that. 75 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.960 So the key thing is to say what am I 76 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.800 good at and what do I love to do? And 77 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:08.680 I want you to look for patterns in your life 78 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.759 because if you were good at it at an early age, you're. 79 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:13.199 Going to be good at it later on in life. 80 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.600 A kid who's good as a soccer player at ten 81 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:20.120 is going to be a good and even better soccer 82 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:25.720 player at twenty because there's just natural ability that's coming 83 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.600 out there even at an early age. 84 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:29.360 Look for the patterns in your life. 85 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.720 When I was a little boy and I was called Ricky, 86 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:40.319 I was a collector and I loved to collect things. 87 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.879 I collected coins, I collected stamps, I collected rocks, I 88 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.079 collected shell seashells. I collected chicken bones. 89 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:52.879 I'm not kidding. 90 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.040 I made a necklace out of wishbones. It looked like 91 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:01.519 some tribal chief or something. I collected different kinds of horseshoes. 92 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.720 And you know when I look back on all. And 93 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:05.519 I used to call it my mom and dad called 94 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.319 Rick's valuable property. And my room was filled with all 95 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:12.360 kinds of collections of stuff as a little boy. And 96 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:14.480 what I liked the most about that was not the 97 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:18.600 collecting part, but the categorizing that goes with that, and 98 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.000 that goes with that. And I could see things or 99 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.920 in line, those four things go together, and those five 100 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:24.879 things go together. 101 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:27.920 And I was in an early I didn't know the words. 102 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:33.000 I was a synthesizer, a simplifier, and a categorizer, and. 103 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:35.279 I was going that goes with that. As a little boy. 104 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:39.879 I was doing this today many many decades later. I'm 105 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.800 still doing the same thing, only I do it with ideas. 106 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.040 And so what I do is I look at what's 107 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:49.800 going on, and I read deeply in the world. I 108 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.839 read the sciences. I read botany and zoology and physiology. 109 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:58.399 I read psychology, I read history, I read the arts, 110 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:05.079 I read behavioral sciences, I read politics. Of course, I'm 111 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.959 in God's word, reading it constantly, over and over and over. 112 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:11.680 And then what I do is I see all these ideas. 113 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:13.399 I go, oh, that idea goes with that one, and 114 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.240 that idea goes, I'm now a collector and a categorizer 115 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:20.639 and a synthesizer and a simplifier of ideas. And so 116 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:22.600 then I come to church and say, here for these. 117 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:26.879 Now you know that looks pretty simple. You try that, 118 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:32.639 You try and making that every week for thirty five years. Okay, 119 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:35.519 because you may hit a home run this week, next week, 120 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:40.439 you're at bat in six more days. And it's hard 121 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:43.240 in making something simple. Einstein said, you don't really understand 122 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:44.759 something until you can simplify it. 123 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.519 But that's what I was wired to do. 124 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.120 I was wired to take very complex things and make 125 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:53.040 them sound very very simple, and it showed up in 126 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.480 my life since as a little boy. So you look 127 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:57.920 for the patterns in your life. Now look at this 128 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.959 verse on the screen. The Bible says, try to have 129 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.720 a sane estimate of your capabilities. 130 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.759 Now, a sane estimate. 131 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.560 Says, I don't think I'm the best in the world, 132 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.399 but I'm not the worst in the world either. I'm 133 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:16.040 just good at this. And the Bible says, you do 134 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.920 it and say I'm good at this without comparing yourself 135 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.120 to anybody else. So the first thing you have to 136 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:25.160 do in discovering is to examine. The second thing Tommy's 137 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:25.759 are alluded to. 138 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:26.360 This is by. 139 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:32.560 Experimenting, by experimenting with different tasks. If you're in your twenties, 140 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.279 my biggest advice to you, more than college or anything else, 141 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.360 is this, try as many different things as you can, 142 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.560 as early as you can, to see what you're good at, 143 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:44.839 because you're not going to know you're good at it 144 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.560 until you try it and you go, oh, that didn't lie. 145 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.480 I didn't like that. I didn't like that. That wasn't good. 146 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:50.319 Oh that's good. 147 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:53.040 But I really like this and I'm good at it, 148 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.079 and I'm fruitful and I'm fulfilled. And so you just 149 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.680 start trying stuff, and you just look for in church, 150 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.759 you look for a place to volunteer God. Some people 151 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:06.199 are sitting waiting for God to say, I'm waiting for 152 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.199 God to tell me what to do with my life. 153 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:12.319 It isn't gonna happen. It isn't gonna happen. You just 154 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:18.040 got God does not steer a part car. You gotta 155 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.680 be moving. You can't steer a part car. You can 156 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:24.600 only move. So just start moving, do anything, volunteer for anything. 157 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.240 And as you start volunteering, then God will go, hey, 158 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.199 this is what I want you to do with your career. 159 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:32.480 This is what I want you to do with your life, 160 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.000 and you'll start understanding and by experiment and just try 161 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:36.240 out a. 162 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:37.080 Bunch of options. 163 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:41.759 There is no test that you can take that will 164 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:47.039 explain your sahape, how God wired you how there's no test. 165 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.639 The reason why is because every test is standardized and 166 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.559 every human being is unique. The whole idea of shape 167 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:55.600 is there's nobody else like you in the world, so 168 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:00.679 you couldn't take a standardized test and find out what 169 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:05.120 is your unique shape? Now years ago, I remember back 170 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:10.000 in the seventies they had these spiritual gift tests. I 171 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.000 don't have anymore because they don't work. And I remember 172 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.240 as a teenager, I took a spiritual gift test to 173 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.480 find out what my spiritual gift was and the only 174 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:20.120 thing that came up with was that I had the 175 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:27.519 gift of martyrdom. Oh, great, martyrdom. You get to die 176 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.480 for Jesus. That's great, that's the gift. You only get 177 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:35.799 to use one time and it's over and you only 178 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.600 get to use it on the last day of your life. 179 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:42.440 What kind of gift is that? You know? 180 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:46.440 I could have taken a thousand tests, and I would 181 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.799 have never known that I was good at teaching. 182 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:55.639 Why I'd never done it. I'd never even tried it. 183 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.960 And one day somebody asked me to fill in for 184 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:02.240 some youth Bible study and I go, okay, I'll try that. 185 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:04.759 And my knees were knocking and I was scared to death. 186 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:08.279 And I mean I planned that like five hour sermon 187 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:11.000 and it was done in four minutes. And you know, 188 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.440 and I go, well, what do you guys want to 189 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.440 talk about? Anybody read Mad magazine this week or you know, 190 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:18.639 just and watch me. 191 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.320 Nay, nay, you know, here we go. So, you know, 192 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:24.440 I didn't know what to do. 193 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:29.159 And so but but as I began to just try something, 194 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:31.080 people would come up and go, hey, you know, Rick, 195 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.519 when you talk it makes sense. I get it. I 196 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.600 understand it. You make something complex simple, I get it. 197 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:40.039 Now. 198 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.840 Here's an important thing in discovering your shape. Other people 199 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.279 will see it before you do. Other people will often 200 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.159 see how God shaped you before you do. Because when 201 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.159 you're naturally good at something, you think everybody's good at it, 202 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:56.679 they're not. 203 00:10:57.879 --> 00:10:59.799 You think it's easy for everybody, it's not. 204 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:03.279 And when you're good at something you just think it's 205 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.840 a normal thing. Well, anybody should be able to do that. 206 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:10.120 Well they don't, and so other people will actually have 207 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.960 to point it out in you. Some of you, for instance, 208 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:15.440 as Tommy pointing out, you're very, very organized. 209 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.240 And if I were to go to. 210 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:22.480 Your clothes closet, it's color coded and all of the 211 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:26.279 blue shirts or blue dresses are all in the same area. 212 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.639 And you think everybody's organized, are you kidding? 213 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:32.039 Of course not. 214 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.919 But because you're good at it, you think. Parents one 215 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.200 of the most important thing you can say to a 216 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.200 young person is you know what you'd be good at, 217 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.320 Not telling them what you want them to be good at, 218 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.720 but saying you know what you're good at, and it 219 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:53.279 releases people. We have to experiment and oftentimes other people 220 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.519 will see it before you do, which, by the way, 221 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:59.559 the fastest way to discover your God given shape is 222 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:02.679 getting a church, because other people will see it in 223 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.519 a church, and particularly in a small group. And as 224 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.360 you talk in a small group week after week, people 225 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:08.639 go like, you know what you're God be good at, 226 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.519 and it'll come out there. So I've got to discover 227 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.159 my shape. Second thing you got to do to become 228 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.200 who God wants you to be. I have to accept 229 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.360 my shape, and this is a hard thing for many people. Unfortunately, 230 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:25.679 many people reject what God made them to be, and 231 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:28.080 they spend their entire lives trying to be something they're not, 232 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.320 and then they wonder why they're so unhappy and so unfulfilled. 233 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.200 You were made to be you, not anybody else. And 234 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.240 if you try to be somebody else that you're not 235 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.480 shaped to be, you're gonna be miserable. Now, there are 236 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:44.399 two barriers that keep you from fulfilling your unique shape 237 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:49.519 in life, Comparing and conforming. Comparing with other people. I 238 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.519 want the gifts he's God. I like what she's got, 239 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.639 and I want to be like that person. There are 240 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:01.840 two problems comparing and conforming. Comparing. Never never, never, never, never, 241 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.639 never compare yourself to anybody else. Why because you're one 242 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:07.960 in a billion. No, you're one in a zillion. God 243 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.679 doesn't make clones. You have a unique thumb print, voiceprint 244 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.639 I print. Nobody's ever gonna be like you. So never 245 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.360 compare yourself. And when you get to having, God's not 246 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:19.519 gonna say why weren't you more like Moses or your sister? 247 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:22.480 He's gonna say, I made you to be you. I 248 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.039 didn't make you to be your dad. I didn't make 249 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:25.879 you to be your mom. I made you to be you. 250 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.399 And so he says, don't compare, by the way, if 251 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.639 you compare your entire life, you'll be miserable because you'll 252 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:38.879 always find somebody that you're doing a better job. Then 253 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:42.080 and you get full of pride, and you'll always find 254 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:44.120 somebody who's doing a better job than you, and you 255 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.799 get full of discouragement. Either way, you're dead in the water. 256 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.879 Pride and discouragement puts you on the sidelines. And then 257 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.279 conforming is when you feel like I've got to be 258 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.720 like somebody else. And the two myths I actually wrote 259 00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:59.320 two more chapters, you know, and when we revised purpose 260 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.840 of in life, I must be like you or I 261 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:06.440 must be liked by you. These are envy and people 262 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:10.519 pleasing are the two things that kill God's purpose in 263 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:14.039 your life. And so you got to stop being preoccupied 264 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.279 with I wish I was like that person. I wish 265 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:19.519 I was like her, I wish I was like him. Now, 266 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:24.000 anytime you reject the shape God has given you, you're 267 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:28.120 really rebelling against God. You're rejecting your creator. When you 268 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.679 reject the way He created you. Let me show your vers. 269 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:33.120 It's here on the screen. The Bible says in Romans 270 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:36.240 chapter nine, what right do you have as a human 271 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.120 being to cross examine? In other words, to question how 272 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:43.240 God made you? Cross examine God? He said, you're like 273 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:45.720 in a pottery shop. You got the potter making the pot. 274 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.159 The pot has no right to say to the potter, 275 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:53.559 why did you make me this shape? A potter can 276 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:59.960 do whatever he likes with the clay as your passion, 277 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:02.840 who loves you and wants you, wants to coach you 278 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:04.639 to succeed in every oar of your life. I would 279 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.360 encourage you to spend more time asking what do I 280 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:09.080 do well? 281 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.200 And less time on what do I do wrong? 282 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.240 Stop spending so much time in your life going what 283 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.720 do I do wrong? And instead say what do I 284 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.440 do well? That is the key to maximizing your strengths. 285 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:24.080 And it's the key one of the keys to this. 286 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.399 You know, skill will bring success. Now one of the 287 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:28.840 areas you're gonna have to deal with. And I'm going 288 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:33.159 to say this because we're saddlebacks United Nations. I've told 289 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.559 you many times in our church we speak sixty seven 290 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.399 different languages because we want our church to look like 291 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:41.480 Heaven's going to look like. 292 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:42.600 And in Heaven, it's not. 293 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:44.960 Going to be all white people, black people, brown people, 294 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.080 or any other color. It's going to be a God 295 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.879 loves variety. If you don't believe that, look down your row. 296 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.399 God loves variety. He does not want us to look alike, 297 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:59.159 act like, talk alike, sound alike. And so we say 298 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:01.799 we want we want to be an all nation congregation. 299 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:06.039 We want every nation in our church. One of the 300 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.600 areas that many people struggle with is their heredity. And 301 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.759 God sovereignly selected your parents, when you would be born, 302 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.639 where you would be born, how you're born, your ethnicity, 303 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.960 your race, the color of your skin, all of these 304 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.720 things are sovereignly decided by God, and accepting your heredity 305 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:31.720 is a part of finding God's purpose for your life. Today, 306 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.159 in our society, we have an epidemic of depression. People 307 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.240 are depressed, and the reason why is because they have 308 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:43.720 confused identity. They don't know who they are, and because 309 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:45.200 when you don't know who you are, you're going to 310 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.320 be depressed in life. And more than that, they don't 311 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.960 not only don't know who they are. They're trying to 312 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:54.399 be something they're not, and that doesn't work, and they're 313 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.200 denying the truth of God's word. They're denying what God 314 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:03.279 made them to be, listening to culture instead of the Bible. 315 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.839 And the culture says this is what's beautiful. That's all 316 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.319 what God says beautiful. But they say this is what's beautiful, Well, 317 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.440 I better be like that. And we have people with 318 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.359 curly hair want to have straight hair, and people with 319 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:17.039 straight hair when I have curly hair, light skinned people 320 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:19.440 want to get darker with a tan, and dark skinned 321 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.480 people want to get lighter, and people want to be 322 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:23.480 taller and shorter. And God said, wait a minute, Wait 323 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:27.319 a minute, who set up that standard of beauty. You're 324 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:31.200 listening to the world. We're trying to be something you're not, 325 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:34.079 and that causes all kinds of confusion. Now the other 326 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.319 trap is, I said, it's conformity. Have you noticed that 327 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:43.559 many people have a plan for your life? And if 328 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.519 you want to be what God wants you to be, 329 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:48.480 you're gonna have to tune out what other people want 330 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:50.119 you to be. You're gonna have to say, wait a minute, 331 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:51.480 I got to be what God wants me to be, 332 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.039 not what my parents or anybody else. Stop fulfilling roles 333 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.680 that God didn't assign you. Some of you are still 334 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.160 trying to He's parents who are dead, and you stop 335 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.079 fulfilling roles. You got to go back to the first 336 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:08.599 skill we talked about, ignoring the naysayers. Let me read 337 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:13.480 you some famous quotes. You are hopeless as a composer. 338 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:21.319 Beethoven's music teacher. You are so stupid you will never 339 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:28.839 learn anything. Edison's teacher. You are never going to be 340 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:35.680 good at math, and he flunked him. Einstein's teacher. Here's 341 00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:38.720 a guy who was fired by a newspaper editor because 342 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:45.799 he said the guy had no creativity. Walt Disney. You 343 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.759 got to quit listening to the wrong people. You got 344 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:51.440 to start listening to what God says about you. The 345 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:55.720 Bible says one Corinthians seven seventeen. On the screen, each 346 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:59.519 one should retain the place in life that the Lord 347 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:04.039 has a to him and to which God has called him. 348 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.759 God's calling on your life. God has called everybody to 349 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.200 a purpose. God has called you to a specific life mission. 350 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.759 And the only way you're going to know that, remember, 351 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:18.160 function falls form, is look at your shape. 352 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:18.480 Now. 353 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:20.960 Part of that as I said, is your experiences, and 354 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:25.319 sometimes even those experiences will be painful. So let's give 355 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:26.319 Tommy a warm welcome. 356 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.880 God will never ever waste a hurt in your life. 357 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.759 He wants to take all that makes you this shape, 358 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:41.960 and he wants. 359 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:42.319 To use it. 360 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:45.160 He wants to use it for his good and his glory. 361 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:47.799 So how do we continue on maximizing our God given shape? Well, 362 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.119 number one, we have to discover it. Number two, we 363 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:52.720 have to accept it. And then number three, God wants 364 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.400 us to enjoy it. God wants us to enjoy the 365 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.599 shape that He has given us and how He has 366 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:05.440 made us. Ecclesiastes five tells us this, to enjoy your 367 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.319 work and to accept your lot in life. 368 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.039 This is a gift from God. 369 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.000 People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, 370 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:16.279 for God has given them reasons for joy. God wants 371 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.200 you to accept and to enjoy who He's made you 372 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:22.559 to be. He's made you to be something wonderful and 373 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:26.400 unique and beautiful and amazing. And because He's made you 374 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.319 that way, and he is the creator and the maker, 375 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.839 just like Pastor Rick was talking about, he wants you 376 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:33.799 to enjoy and to accept that gift. He doesn't want 377 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.240 you to be anybody else except for you. He's not 378 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.119 going to compare you to anyone else. And when you 379 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.319 do that, there are three benefits that happen in your life, 380 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.240 and Philippians two thirteen talks about these three benefits. 381 00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:46.519 Let's take a look at this next verse. 382 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:50.680 It is God who is at work within you, energizing 383 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.799 and creating in you the power and desire to will 384 00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:58.039 and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. 385 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.480 When you are living in your shape, when you were 386 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:02.960 doing what God made you to do, there's three things 387 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:04.799 that happen in your life according to this First you 388 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.839 might want to write these down. The first thing is 389 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.960 that you will feel energized. You will have energy like 390 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.039 you've never experienced before. And it's not just energy to 391 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:15.119 get up and go in the morning, like physical energy. 392 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:19.440 It's that you feel alive inside inside of you. 393 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.519 You feel like this is what you were born to do, 394 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:24.480 this is what you were made to do. It resonates 395 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:26.880 in the deepest part of your heart and your desire, 396 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.400 and deep down in your soul, you know this is 397 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.359 what God has made me to do, and. 398 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:32.079 So you feel alive. 399 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:34.400 You'll be the first one to show up before anyone else. 400 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.960 You'll be the last one to leave before anyone after 401 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.240