Rick Warren - Is God Really Good All the Time—Part Two

Hello, everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren.

I'm really glad you're here today. We're continuing our series

from Psalm twenty three called living in the Goodness of God.

It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where

you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. Okay,

and now here's part two of a message called is

God really good all the time?

How does God grow faith and trust in your life?

The exact same way a child learns to trust a parent.

It's the exact same process. There's a very famous circle

called the Circle of Security on how children learn to

trust their parents. You had to go through the circle

thousands and probably tens of thousands of times growing up.

Let me show you too, the circle of security. This

is how parents teach their children to trust them. First

is the child recognizes an unmet need. I'm at the

bottom of the stairs. I got to get to the top.

I can't get there. I need help, So the child

Step one recognizes an unmet need. Step two is the

child expresses that need, usually by crying or yelling because

they don't have words yet, but they let you know

that my diaper is soiled, or I'm hungry or I'm

bored in the crib and i can't get out, and

they let you know they have a need. And step

two they express a need. Step three is the parent

meets that need. They pull you out of the crib,

they change your diaper, they feed you, they soothe you,

they do whatever you need because your need is not

being met, and the parent meets the need. And the

result of the parent meeting the need is Number four

is that the child learns to trust the parent. Now

that circle right there, You personally went through that circle

maybe one hundred thousand times growing up, and you figure

it out. When I cry, I get mom's attention or

dad's attention. When I complain about a need, it it's met.

And every time that need was met in your life,

you learn to trust your mom or your dad or

whoever more. Now that cycle is the exact same way

God teaches you to trust him. You have an unmet

need in your life, you express that unmet need to God.

God meets that need, and you learn to trust him more.

And you do it again and again and again. If

you're not expressing your needs to God, you're not growing

in trust, because that's the only way you learn. The

reason I can trust God the way I do today

is because He's met millions of needs in my life

when I've asked, and I know he's reliable, he can

be counted on. And so if you're not praying prayers

of request, this is why God says, I want you

to ask, because he knows it's the way you learn

to trust him. It's the exact same way God teaches you.

So if you're not asking God to meet your needs

through prayer, you're not growing learning to trust him. So

how long has it been since you said something like

this to God? God? I know you're a good God. God,

I know you want to meet my needs. You've told

me over and over to meet my needs. Well, here's one,

and you tell him about your upset stomach or anything.

There's nothing too big or too small. It's big enough

to worry about, it's big enough to pray about, and

worry won't solve it, but prayer will. And you ask

God and then you wait patiently for God's timing to

deliver it. God rarely gives you the answer immediately, rarely

because he wants to test your faith. God is not

a vending machine where you put in a prayer, you

pull the plug, and you instantly get it. If God

gave you everything instantly, you'd be incredibly self centered, incredibly selfish.

And so God wants to give it to you, but

he's going to wait a while while you are learning

to grow, you're learning to trust. You See, every child

has to learn the difference we know and not yet.

They're not the same thing. Immaturity means when I tell

you can we go to Disneyland? Yes, but not yet,

and you get mad. It didn't mean know. A delay

is not a denial. That's maturity when you understand that

it is a delay in a denial. And so God

won't always give it to you immediately. He wants you

to wait. Now, here's what Jesus said Luke, chapter eleven.

If you, as imperfect parents, know how to give good gifts,

there's that word good again, the goodness of God. If

you use imperfect parents know how to give good gifts

to your own children, how much more well your heavenly Father,

who by the way, is perfect, will give good gifts

to those who asked him. You have not because you

asked not. I'm embarrassed to tell you this story, but

I'm going to tell anyway because it makes a good

point that even pastors often forget the goodness of God

and don't ask. A week ago, on a Friday, I

lost my cell phone. Now that's extremely important to me

because I get hundreds of emails a day and also

text messages, and every day that I don't have it,

those things are piling up and go, hey, Rick must

not care about me, and you know they're thinking all

kinds of bad thoughts. And so when I lost it,

that was the day that I came down with kind

of a stomach flu, which is why a pastor Tom

spoke last weekend for me. By the way, didn't he

do an incredible job? Man? Thank you Tom. That has

a great message. I was sitting at home in bed

taking notes and thinking, now, three years from today, I'm

going to preach that, and I'll think I taught it.

It was a great message, and I so I was sick,

so I didn't look for it Saturday or Sunday. On Monday,

I was feel a little bit better, so I got up.

I tore the house apart. I mean I literally spent

hours pulling up every cushion on sofas and looking behind

this and that, and I literally spent several hours trying

to find my phone. Could not find it. So I

go out to my car. I tear my car apart.

I mean, it's like I got a magnifying glass looking

for it. Cannot find my phone. The next day, I

was feeling a little bit better. I went into the

office and I looked all tore the office apart looking

for it everywhere. I had staff members looking for my

phone trying to find it. On Wednesday, I went and

I tore it all up again, went through the house.

I thought maybe I just missed it, and so I

did it again in my house and my car and

my office, and I could not find it. So on

Thursday go, I can't go without a phone. I've got

all these messages coming in. So my son Josh loan

me a phone he didn't wasn't using, and I went

and I got it turned so I could at least,

you know, communicate people. Did that in the evening about

eight pm that evening. Well, Kay was gone all this

last week. She was speaking in Washington, d C. And

she spoke to a Congressional Committee on Mental Health and

she spoke to the presidents of all the Christian universities

and their wives, and she had a number of speaking

engagements in DC. So she was gone for five days.

When Kay's not home, I stay up all night and

I just study. And so every night I was going

getting by on like two hours of sleep. And a

Thursday night, about four o'clock in the morning, I had

gone down to get something to eat and I was

going back up to study some morning, and so I'm

walking back upstairs and I was thinking about this message

about the goodness of God and how God says the

way I proved my goodness is for you to ask.

And all of a sudden, the Lord just said to me, Rick,

have you considered asking me where the phone is? Oh? No,

I had not even prayed this thing. I hadn't even

prayed about it. I said, God, I'm so sorry. You

are a good God, and I need to repent. And

you know, God, I know you're a good God. So

show me where that phone is now, I said, Now, Lord,

I'm going to get ready to go to bed here

in about you know, fifteen minutes, and if you want

to reveal it to me in a dream, then I'll

wake up and I'll know where it is. You know, oftentimes,

you know, we don't want to just ask God. We

want to give him the way to deliver it. I go.

God said, look, Rick, you don't have to tell me

how to deliver it. I'll figure this out. You don't

need to recommend you know where, Just just trust me.

So I said, Lord, this is not a big deal

in this grand scope of things. It's just a phone.

But you're a good God, and you this is something

that means a lot to me. And so I'm asking you,

because you're a good God, to show me where that

phone is because I can't find it. And I said, now, Lord,

you know me, it's not going to shut by shaking

my faith if you don't answer this. Some prayers get answered,

some the way we want. Some of them don't. I

don't know why. When we get to heaven we'll understand that. All.

I just know God has said to ask. So I said, Lord,

if you choose not to reveal this to me, you

know that's not going to shake my faith one bit.

I know you're a good God. But because you're a

good God, I really would like to know where that is.

So I went upstairs, and I saw some dirty dishes

in my study, and I thought I should take those

down and wash them and get it all cleaned up.

Four K gets back, and as I was walking back down,

all of a sudden, I got a inkling to play

the piano. At four o'clock in the morning. I thought,

you know, I'd like to sit down and just play

the piano. And they relaxed me a little bit. So

K has this beautiful piano, and I sat on I

started playing. I start playing a little tune there, and

I goes, hey, that's pretty good. I should record that

and give it to John and Stephanie and our worship team,

because maybe they could put some words to it. And

so I often will get a phone and then I'll

turn the recorder on and record that little thing and

then send it to him. But the phone that Josh

had loaned me is upstairs. So I was getting ready

to get up and go upstairs, and as I got up,

I looked over and right next to the metronome on

the piano, on that black piano was a black phone.

Now this is less than five minutes after I'd prayed

that prayer. Five minutes, not five minutes has happened. I

started laughing and crying at the same time. You are

too good man, you are, and I'm laughing and I'm crying,

and well, God, you just show me your goodness one

more time. God did in five minutes what I couldn't

do in five days. You have not because you asked not.

And the reason you're not asking is you don't really

think God's that good. You don't think he's interested in

the details of your life. But the Bible says He

has every hair on your head numbered, and he knows

how many fell out in the sink this morning. God

knows the details of your life better than you do.

Did God know where my phone was? Yes? Who put

it in my mind to gover and sit down and

play the piano? God did? God did? And so we

miss out on so much. Now that you say, well,

I don't really want to bother God, you're not bothering God.

He's the one who set this thing up. He knows

you're going to trust him more. When you ask, he

meets the need, and then you trust him more. Here's

what the Bible says, Hebrews chapter four. Let us come

boldly to the throne of our good and gracious God. Boldly.

God is good. God is gracious, so we can come boldly.

Then we will receive his mercy and will find the

grace to help us when we need it. Now, what's

God's motivation in answering your prayers? Well, David tells us

the next verse Psalm sixty six, Answer me, Oh Lord,

out of the goodness of your love. Everything God does

for you, through you, to you, and in you, he

does because He is a good God. God's goodness to you, listen,

is not based on your goodness. It's based on his goodness.

God's goodness to you isn't based on how good you are.

God is good to bad people. They get to breathe

the same air we do, they get to live, they

get to ignore God, but He's still good to them.

God's goodness isn't based on your goodness. Think, well, I

got to be better than God will answer my prayer. No,

God's goodness is based on his goodness. Now there's a

third negative consequence that happens when you forget how good

God really is, and it's this, I stop trusting God

in difficult times. You see, if you were more aware

of how good God really is. This would be automatic

to you. Every time you had a need, you'd automatically

talk to God about it. It'd be natural. You wouldn't

try to solve it yourself first. You'd go to God first.

You'd ask God for so, God, I need some help here,

I need a job, I need this, I need that,

whatever it is, and you just go to God instantly.

It'd be your first choice, not your last result resort.

Look at these verses Psal, I'm sixteen one or two.

Protect me God, because I trust in you. You are

my Lord, and every good thing I have comes from you.

Don't ever forget that. Romans five, verse eight, Paul says,

you know we can have joy even in our troubles,

even when things are going wrong. We can have joy

in our troubles. Why because we know that these troubles

are good for us, producing patience and character and hope.

Even in the bad time. God is good even in

the bad times. God has a good purpose, has a

good plan, has a good reason. And so even in

the difficult times, I go, God, You're a good God,

because I know You're going to use this to produce

character and patience and hope in my life. And in

Romans eight twenty eight. And we know that in everything,

not some things, not the good things. We know that

in everything God works for the good circle that for

the good, not for the bad, for the good of

those who love Him and are called according to His

good purpose. So even when times are tough, I know

God's good and I know he has a good purpose,

a good plan, and he's working it all out for good.

Not everything that happens in your life is good. There's

a lot of bad. But God can take even the

bad and then bring good out of it, and that

builds trust in Him. Now there's one other negative consequence.

When you forget how good God really is to you

and you just forget it, you start claiming credit for

things that God did that you didn't do. He did

it through you. You stop asking God for help, you

stop trusting God in difficult times. And the fourth thing

that happens when you forget God's goodness, I do it,

you do it is I become pessimistic about the future.

When you forget how good God really is, you become

pessimistic about the future. You lose hope, because hope is

based on the goodness of God. If God isn't good,

there is no hope. David tells us this and Psalm

twenty seven the connection between hope and the goodness of God,

and in verse thirteen and fourteen he says this, I

would have despaired, said, I would have been desperate. I

would have been in total despair unless I had believed

that I'd see the goodness there. It is the goodness

of the Lord, the land of the Living. He goes, Man,

there would be no hope if God was not a

good God. We're up a creek without a paddle. I

would have been in despair. But he did know that

God was a good God, so he says, instead, instead,

I thought, wait for the Lord. I don't see the

answer right now. I'm going to wait for the Lord.

Be strong, let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for

the Lord, he says. Don't get in a hurry. God

is a good God. You've made the request. Now wait,

do you ever do this orre Do you get in

so much of a hurry you don't have time for

God to give the answer. When there's something you want

to buy and it's really important, do you give God

an opportunity to give it to you first. No, I

don't even think about that. I go out and put

it on a credit card. I buy something I want

with money I don't have, and then you're in debt.

Have you ever on like a big purchase? Said the

Lord before I buy this, and I'm gonna give you

a chance to give it to me. Do you want

to give this to me? I tell you that happens.

I've had it happen many times in my life. When

you get into hurry, God, I really want to get married,

but I'm not gonna wait on you to provide the person.

I'm gonna go out and find the nearest beating heart.

And then you regret that one the rest of your

life because you got in a hurry. You did not wait,

You did not trust the goodness of God. Most of

your problems in life come from your inability to delay gratification.

And I want it right now. That's called being immature.

That's what babies say. I want it now, not later.

I want it now. That's immaturity. And so I become

pessimistic about the future, he says, I would have despaired. Listen,

if you are fighting depression these days, if you are

fighting discouragement these days, if you're fighting doubt these days,

if you're fighting despair, let me tell you to do

two things. Number One, start focusing on all the ways

that God has been good to you. Get your eyes

off the problems and get your eyes on all the

things God has done for you. Make a list, count

your blessings, write them down. Make a list of all

the ways God is good in your life and focus

on that. And number two, don't miss any of the

next nine weeks in this series.

Wow, some powerful words from Pastor rig today. Well, this

is really one of my favorite parts of the broadcast.

This is letters from our listeners and now here's Rick.

Hi. Everybody. Today, I want to share a very powerful

letter from a listener named Michael. Michael experienced terrible trauma

as a child, but he says that Daily Hope is

helping him overcome his past and now he's looking to

the future with his kids. Let me read you just

a little bit of Michael's story. Dear Pastor Rick, you

and Daily Hope have brought God into my life and

it has saved me. I am a twenty nine year

old father of five children, and I try my hardest

to teach my children to know God and to love

Jesus and how to pray. And I do my best

to be a good example and be worthy of all

the good gifts that God has given to me. But

you know, because of my childhood and the insecurities and

abandonment issues that were created in my life from years

of mental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and yes, even

sexual abuse, I've always had a hard time I'm trusting God.

I woke up every day feeling unworthy, and I suffered

from feelings of anxiety and depression, and I felt like

God couldn't possibly love me because no one else had

ever loved me. And I carried that pain inside of

me for so long, craving for a close, better intimate

relationship with God. Now listening to Daily Hope has helped

me achieve that and more. I'm not only better, but

I'm now better for everybody else around me. Spreading all

that I've learned and the good news of Jesus Christ.

I know God better than ever and I now have

more faith than I ever knew possible because I feel

His love. Thank you so much. Daily Hope does such

a great work in the name of Jesus, and I

will forever be in your debt for bringing the fire

of faith into my heart and helping me know God.

I love you, and I hope you continue to bring

change in the world through the message of Jesus Christ.

You know, Michael, I absolutely love how you're teaching your

five kids to know Jesus that is a real man,

a real dad, a real father. It's so important to

pass it on to the next generation, and I'm encouraged

the daily Hope is helping you with the trauma of

all your past and helping you work through those issues

and keeping you growing in the love of Jesus Christ.

You know, stories like the one you wrote to me

are what keep me going. It's why we do this

change lives now. I want to pray for you. I

want to pray, Dear Lord, pour out your love on Michael.

Help him to sense your love so that he never

doubts it. Pour out your blessing and your peace on

his family. I pray that they will continue to grow

in their faith and that they will experience the peace

that passes understanding as they fall. God, I want to

thank you for his faithfulness in Jesus name. I pray Amen.

You know, if God is blessing you through Daily Hope.

Would you share your story with me? Write me rickatpastorrick

dot com.

Be sure to join us next time as we look

into God's word for our daily hope. This program is

sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial

support