Rick Warren - Being Thankful Even in Bad Times–Part Two

Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible

teaching ministry of Rick Warren. You know, with Thanksgiving just

around the corner, we're pausing our current series to bring

you a special message from Pastor Rick, one that will

help you reflect on God's goodness and grow a heart

of gratitude. Okay, and now here's part two of a

moving message called being thankful even in bad times.

When tragedy strikes, when you hit the skids, when your

life falls apart, when everything goes wrong, the typical thing

we want to do is look for an explanation. That's dumb,

because explanations never ever comfort. They don't really help you

at all. I've told you many times that if my

wife k were to drop dead tomorrow and I were

to know the reason, it wouldn't make me any less sorrowful,

any less in pain. And so don't waste time always

trying to find out the why, why, why why? Because first,

my brain isn't big enough to understand all that happens

in the world, and neither is yours. It's like an

aunt trying to understand the Internet. And there are a

lot of things in your life you're just not gonna

know why they happen until you get to heaven. Then

it's all gonna make sense and you'll see it. What

you need when you're going through a tough time is

not an explanation. What you need is the presence of God.

Court's going to come and talk about that in just

a second. But one of the reasons that I can

always be thankful even in my darkest days is the

promise of Romans eight twenty eight. There in your outline.

We know that in all things, not some, In all

things God works. We know that in all things God

works for the good. It doesn't say everything's good. There's

a lot of bad in the world. We know that

even in the bad, God works for the good for everybody.

Know for those who love Him, who give him the

pieces and have been called according to His purpose. And

so I know that no matter what I go through,

if I will give those pieces to God, God's going

to bring good out of it. He loves to turn

crucifixions into resurrections and then bless the whole world by it.

Have you ever thought how God might want to bless

the world through your pain. I can be thankful to

God because I know, I'm always thankful for the grace

God shows me, and I'm always thankful for the plans

God has for me. Number three, I am always thankful,

no matter what happens in my life, for God's promise

to never leave me. God's promise to never leave me.

In pastor Kurt's going to come and talk about that.

I want you to think about this for just a second.

This truth that there is not a moment in your

life that God isn't with you. There's not a moment

in your life that God isn't with you. Now, for

some of us, that doesn't initially sound very good because

it's actually a scare tactic of parents worldwide, right. I mean,

we say that towards children. God's with you, he has

his eyes on you, He's watching you, and that is

actually based in a powerful, powerful truth. Look at what

God says to us in Hebrews thirteen, verse five. God

says this, I will never leave you, and I will

never abandon you. God will never leave us, He will

never abandon us. But here's the wonderful part of that promise.

That scripture isn't there to coerce us into staying out

of trouble. It's actually there to comfort us in times

of trouble. What a difference that there is not a

moment in your life, there's not a situation that you

find yourself in. There's not a depth of experience, a

sense of loss or loneliness that we can ever travel alone.

God's always with us. He never ever leaves us. And

there's no fine print. Sometimes when you read those verses

and we say, okay, where's the catch, Where's the hook?

Have you ever seen the commercials for drugs on television

these days? You know there might be a thirty second

drug commercial and about ten seconds is telling you the

good side of the drug, what the drug will do

for you, and then the next twenty seconds or all

the fine print right, all the explanations, the side effects.

There's no fine print in God's promise to always be

with us. He will never ever, ever, never ever never

leave us. Period. Look at this verse in Isaiah forty

three too. It says this, when you go through deep waters,

I will be with you. When you pass through rivers

of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through

the fire, you will not be burned up. It will

not consume you. I'm not sure what deep waters you've

gone through this year. I'm not through, not sure what

fires you felt have consumed you. My hunch is a

in a room this size, there's been a lot of loss,

a lot of feelings of abandonment. Maybe there's been a

husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a friend,

a coworker there's walked out on you and you've felt abandoned,

you felt alone. Maybe you've just gone through stuff as

a family where you felt like, God, are you really

with us now? Are we walking through this situation by ourselves?

And the answer is a resounding no. God promises us

that he'll never ever leave us. I'm not sure what

has you worried this Thanksgiving, but one of the best

ways for us to be thankful is to recognize God's

promise to never leave us and to actually pray a

prayer thanking God for his faithfulness. You see, we're talking

about four different ways we can give thanks, and we

said one of the ways we can give thanks is

through singing. Another powerful way we give thanks, even in

times where we're going through crisis and we're going through loss,

is to pray a prayer of thanksgiving. And that's what

I'd like to do. I'd like to just pray a

prayer of thanks to God. So as I do that,

here's what I'd like you to do. I'd like you

to think of a need you have of God today,

a spot in your life where you're going.

Man.

If I'm honest, God, I feel like you're not with

me on this one. I feel like you've abandoned me.

Here.

Let's pray together, Heavenly Father. As we head into Thanksgiving season,

there's times where God, if we're honest, there's aspects and

places in our lives that it's tough. It's tough to

say thanks because God, we feel alone. Father. I'm not

sure what those moments and what those areas are for

my friends this morning, but God, I pray that they

would sense your powerful presence in their lives. God, if

they feel alone in a relationship, God, if they feel

alone because things their plans for life have just begun

to fall apart or unravel. Father, whatever it is in

our life, whatever our need is this moment, Lord, I

pray that right now we would Since You're powerful, loving

and never wavering presence in our lives, in your name,

we pray.

Amen.

Look at this verse in Philippian's four to six just

as a reminder of the importance of prayer in our lives.

As we give thanks it says this, don't be anxious

or worried about every anything. Don't be anxious or worried

about anything. Instead, pray about everything, always making your request

known to God with thanksgiving. Do me a favor, just

circle with thanksgiving.

So that's the second way that we express our thanksgiving

to God. The first is by singing, and the second

is by praying. Now, no matter what happens in my life,

I can always thank God for the grace that God

shows me, for the plan that God has for me,

and for the promise that He'll never leave me. Number four,

I can always be thankful for the changes God is

making in me. I can be grateful for the changes

that God is making in me. And here's the good news.

No matter what I go through, God will use it

to change me for the better. That's part of the

Romans eight twenty eight. He's working inside me. He's not

just with me as Pastor Kurt talked about. He is

actually in me, and inside me he's making change. Roman

chapter five does this verse three and four. We can

have joy even in our troubles, because we know that

these troubles produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character

produces hope. So why does that make me joyful? Why

is a God building character in my life such an

important thing? Because it's the only thing you're taking with

you to heaven is your character. You're not taking your career,

you're not taking your reputation, you're not taking your money,

you're not taking your hobbies. You're not taking your clothes

or your china or your car, but you are taking

your character. The only thing that's going to heaven is you.

So you ought to be working more on you, because

if you don't work on you, you're not taking much

to heaven. You could spend your whole life acquiring things

and building up a big stockpile of bizz ess on earth,

none of it's going to heaven, and you could have

all kinds of money and have a stunted soul that

goes to heaven. Stunted is that what you want to

live with for eternity. The only thing you're taking with

you to heaven is your character. And God says this

is so important. I will use everything, even the pain

in your life, to build your character, to make you

more patient, more loving, more secure, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness,

making the self control. These are things God wants to

build in your life. Here's the good news. While circumstances

may be working against you, and while other people may

be working against you, the good news, and I can

be thankful for this. God is working in you. Look

at the next verse Philippians two thirteen. For God is

working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him

and the power to do what pleases him. Anthians chapter

three says, as the spirit of the Lord works within us,

so I can be grateful with this, we become more

and more like Him. That I can be grateful for

that that God knows that even the bad stuff that

happened in my life this year, He'll use it to

make me more like Jesus. I can be thankful in

that true confession. I'm not all I should be. I'm

not all I should be, but thank God He's changing me.

And if you don't like me right now, hang on,

I'm getting better. Okay, I'm getting better. And by the

grace of God, I can say three things, and you

can say these three things too. By the grace of God,

I'm not what I used to be. By the grace

of God, I am what I am by the grace

of God, I'm not what I'm going on be because

He is working in me now. During that time when

He's working on us and that pain comes in our lives,

we often feel weak, and we often feel defeated. That's okay,

That's when God's strength shows up best Tewod Corinthians twelve nine.

But God said to me, my grace is all you

need when you are weak. My power is made perfect

in you. So Paul says, I'm happy to break about

my weaknesses. Then christ power can live in me. You

don't know God is all you need until God is

all you got. And when you're out there and you

have no emotional support, and you have no financial support,

and you have no relational support, and you feel like

I'm in this by myself and I'm up to my

nose and I'm going under soon, I'm about ready to

throw in the towel. It is at that point you

don't know God that is all you need, until God's

all youth you've got. Have you ever thanked God for this?

The fact that while other people and circumstances are working

against you, that God is working in you and for

you to make you a better man, to make you

a better woman. Let's stop and let's thank God about that. Now.

One of the ways that God does this is causing

us to remember the things He's taken us through. The

Bible says in Psalm fifty twenty three, giving thanks is

a sacrifice that truly honors me. Did you know that?

The Bible says, would you pause to remember what God

has done in your life? That it's almost like it?

Not almost, he says, it is a sacrifice to God.

He says, it honors me when you stop and say

thank you. Have you done that for what He's done

in your life this year in spite of all the

bad things. Let me show you another verse. The Bible says,

and so ninety seven, verse twelve, remember what your Holy

God has done for you and give thanks to him. Now,

that's a command we are commanded to remember. And this

is the third way to give thanks at thanksgiving. I want,

the Bible says, honor the Lord and worship him. Remember,

remember all the great things He's done for you. Maybe

it was a worship experience that you remember. Go Man,

that was really moving to me and I took a

major life turn in that. Or maybe it was a

story from your small group or they showed up and

supported you, or you had a good time of fellowship

with your small group. Maybe you had a life changing

experience on a missions trip or a peace trip or

working in the peace center. Or maybe you had a

friend who came to Christ. Maybe a lesson learned or

personal change or personal growth a decision you made. So

I want you to take a minute and write down

a story, one a short story of something that you're

thankful to God for being a part of our church

family because of something that happened in your life. There's

one more reason why I can be grateful for God

no matter what happens in my life. And this year,

this reason has meant the most to me. I could

always be thankful for the home that God has prepared

for me. I'm talking about Heaven. I could always be

thankful no matter what I'm going through, no matter what

pain I'm experiencing, that the pain is not going to last,

that God has prepared a home for me in Heaven.

I am grateful that this life is not all there is.

If this life is all there is, I would be

in ultimate despair. If this life is all there is,

I wouldn't be standing here right now. I am grateful

that there's more to life than here and now. I

am grateful that this mess is not the end of

the story. I am grateful that one day God is

going to settle the score. One day, God is going

to balance the books. One day, God is going to

even the odds. One day God is going to right

the wrongs. And I see a lot of wrong in

the world. One day God justice will be served. This

is not the end of the story. And God is

going to close the bank accounts and wrap it all up,

and there is going to be a judgment day, and

there is going to be a day of heaven.

What a special message from Pastor Rick. And now let's

hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick

with a letter from one of our listeners.

Today. I've got a quick note from a listener in Minneapolis.

His name is Bill, and Bill wrote to me Rick,

I want to let you know that I prayed with

you this morning, accepting God into my life. Wow, that's great.

Daily Hope has become the way that I start each

day listening to your podcast. So much has changed in

my life over the past year. I had a job loss,

I had a transition, I had a divorce, my dad

passed away, cancer, and my faith all in the same year.

I'm so thankful for all that you do well. Bill,

I want to tell you, I know you've been going

through some really tough times this past year, but there's

no greater news than hearing that you've accepted Jesus into

your life. And the fact that God used a Daily

Hope podcast to lead you to Him is such a blessing.

And I want you to know that as you continue

to study God's word every day, you're going to find

that your faith is growing and you'll see God actively

working in your life. And I really am as excited

to think about what the next year is going to bring.

Year two in your life will be very different than

the last year. And to the rest of you, all

of our Daily Hope listeners, I just want to thank

you because we're able to provide the Daily Hope podcast

to people like Bill because of your generous support. Thank you,

thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

For helping us share the good news all around the world.

We love you and imagine what it's going to be

to get to heaven and see all these people who

came to know Christ because of your giving. God bless you.

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.