Rick Warren - How To Trust God When You Don't Like the Changes In Your Life—Part Three

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in our series

called Strategies for Stressful Times. In these lessons, Rick SHARE's

biblical wisdom for navigating difficult and stressful times so that

you can experience God's peace and thrive in any situation. Now,

in just a bit, we're going to tell you how

you can get a very special copy of Pastor Rick's

number one selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, with a

classic leather cover. As you journey through this book, you'll

discover the purposes you were created for and begin living

the life of significance you were meant to live. This

is a limited time offer, so go to Pastorick dot

com right now to find out more, or text the

word Hope to eight hundred, six hundred five thousand and four.

Now here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part of

a message called how to trust God when you don't

like the changes in your life.

You get wisdom from two sources. Number one. Write this down,

two sources number one, Ask God two words. Write it down.

Ask God okay, Ask God okay to help me see

his perspective. Ask God to make you wise. James one

to five says this, if you need wisdom, just ask God.

Ask God, when was the last time you asked God

to make you a wise man? When was the last

time you ask God to make you a wise woman?

Ask God for wisdom. God is generous, He'll gladly tell

you what you need. But then after you ask God,

you got to do the second thing, and that is

learn from God's word and those who teach it. The

wisdom is in this book. Now, this book sitting closed

in your in your library or on your coffee table

doesn't do you any good. This book is only good

if you open it. But all the wisdom you need

to handle the stress and the change in life is here.

Second Peter, Chapter one, verse nineteen. Some of you maybe

have never even seen this verse says this, we have

greater confidence in the message of the prophets. What's the

message of the prophets. It's the Bible, God inspired prophets,

godly ment to write down what God wanted them to

write down. We call it the Old Testament of the

New Testament. God inspired the message of the prophets. This

is the Bible, God's word. And he says there we

have greater conference. In the message of the prophets, pay

close attention. Take a note circle that word, pay close

attention that phrase to what they wrote for their words

are like a light shining in a dark place. I

don't know how much how dark are our culture is

gonna get. I'm not a soothsayer, but it does say

when things get dark, you need to go to the light.

And the light is here, not anywhere else. It says,

pay close attention. Let me just ask you, very honestly,

as somebody who loves you as your friend, what do

you pay the most attention to these days? The radio,

talk radio, the media, social media, or God's word? What

are you paying the most attention to? You're gonna be

a whole lot less stressed out. You're gonna be a

lot more at peace if you go to the source

of truth. That's the third thing you need to do.

Second thing you need to do, third thing. Write this down.

Instead of asking why is all this happening? Ask God?

What do you want me to learn? Instead of going

to God? Why are you allowing this pandemic? Why are

you allowing the social problems? Why are you allowing people

to be at each other's throat. People are angry. They're

arguing over this and that and this and that and why.

Instead of asking why is this happening? Asked, what do

you want me to learn? God doesn't know us an

explanation and why he does everything in the world, or

why he allows everything in the world. So here's what

I recommend to you. Focus on your character, not the

changes in society, not the circumstances around you. Romans eight.

Excuse me, Romans five, Verses three and four. It's up

here on the screen. We can rejoice even in our

troubles and our struggles, troubles and struggles. Does that sound familiar.

We've had eighteen months as troubles and struggles. He says.

We can rejoice even in our troubles and struggles because

we know this is wisdom that they teach us. We

learn endurance. That we learn endurance. They teach us endurance,

and endurance develops strength of character and character creates hope.

I want you to notice a couple of things about

this verse. Okay. Number one, notice that life is a struggle.

Everybody agree with that life's tough. We shouldn't expect it

to be any less. We live on a broken planet.

This is not heaven. There's no struggle in heaven. This

is earth. Everything's a struggle on Earth. We can rejoice

even in our struggles and troubles. By the way, have

you ever wondered why our struggles are so relentless? The

answer is is because God wants to change us and

we don't want to change. That's why we struggle, because

we don't want to surrender to the will of God

in our lives. God wants to change us and we

don't want to change, so we struggle. Now, the second

thing I want you to notice that of that verse

is that if we develop character, if you develop character,

you become a person of character, you'll be full of hope.

You'll be full of hope. But if you just complain

about why everything sucks in the world today, you're going

to be full of doubt and unhappiness. Wise, mature people

with perspective, people of character are hopeful people.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be

back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.

You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional

at pastorick dot com. That's Pastorick dot Org.

Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or

what on earth are you here for? Master Rick says

God has a good plan and purpose for your life,

and in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,

he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your

spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. As

you go through this book, you'll discover that real meaning

and significance come from understanding and fulfilling God's purpose for

you here on earth, and how living out the purpose

you are created for moves you beyond mere survival and

success to a life of significance, the life that you

were meant to live. For a limited time, we are

offering this timeless classic and a special leather edition featuring

gold foiled cover art and gilded pages. It's a great

addition to your personal library and it also makes a

wonderful gift with eternal benefits. Get your special edition of

The Purpose Driven Life with a beautiful leather cover today

as a thing thank you for your gift to help

take the hope of Jesus to people around the world

through daily Hope. Today is the last day to get

this great resource, so don't wait visit Pastororrick dot com

or call eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero

four to get your special edition of The Purpose Driven

Life with a beautiful leather cover and all this month,

any gift you give will be matched by very generous

friends up to one hundred thousand dollars. This matching grand

is only available until midnight December thirty first, so please

contact us today again, that's Pastororrick dot com or call

eight hundred at six hundred at five zero zero four.

Thank you so much for your support, and don't forget

to tell us that you listen to Daily Hope on

the radio.

Now let's get back to today's lesson. Here on Pastor

Rick's Daily Hope.

Why mature people with perspective, people of character, are hopeful people.

Unwise immature people are scared and bitter people, and they're

picked off at the world and everybody in it, or

at least half of the world. I want us to

not be at that level where we don't get ticked

off at people who disagree with us. No, I want

us to get to Paul's level of spiritual maturity, which

is Philippians chapter four. There on your outline Paul says,

I've learned. Pause right here, circle the word learned. We'll

come back to that. This is something you learn See,

Ask God, what do you want me to learn? I've

learned this secret so that anywhere, at any time, I'm content,

whether I'm full or hungry, or whether I have too

much or too little, I have the strength to face

all conditions by the power Chris. Give me that, my friends.

Its stability and its maturity. That's what God's trying to

bring in our lives. And we'll either learn it fast

or we'll learn it slow. Now I said, circle that

word learned. He says, I've learned to trust God. I've

learned to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in. Have

you learned this yet? Have you grown up enough to

learn to be content in whatever circumstance you're in? Let

me ask you another question, says ask God, what you

want to learn? What have you learned about yourself in

the last eighteen months? Not what have you learned about

the world? What have you learned about you? And your response?

I want you to write this down. Every situation is

an education. Every situation is an education. There is no

experience in life you can't learn from. If you'll just

have an humble attitude, there is no situation, big or small,

There is no problem, there is no change that you

cannot learn from, if you'll just humbly say, Lord, what

do you want me to learn? Every education? Every situation

is in education. Number four. Let me give you the

last two quickly. Number four. When you're going through changes

you don't like, focus on what never changes. Focus on

what never changes. Yeah, there are a lot of changes

going on in our world right now, and a lot

of them we don't like. They suck. I started to

title this message you know how to trust God when

life sucks. There are many things that you don't like

that are changing, but there's also many things that will

never never, never, never never change. And when you're going

through a time of great change, relentless like we're talking about,

and rapid.

Then.

When you're going through that kind of change, you need

to let the unchangeables be your anchor. What's anchoring you

right now? You need to let the unchangeable things that

are never going to change be your anchor in this

time of uncertainty. Now I could give you a bunch

of them. Let me just mention three. God's love for

you will never change. God's truth in his word will

never change. God's plan and purpose for your life will

never change. Nothing can change those things. Look at these

three verses. Jeremiah thirty one three. I've loved you with

an ever lasting love. Nothing's ever going to change that.

He's never going to stop loving you no matter what happens.

Isaiah forty, verse eight. The word of God shall stand forever.

What he said is the right thing to do will

always be the right thing to do. And what he

said is the wrong thing to do will always be

the wrong thing to do the Word of God will

stand forever. So I'm thirty three eleven. His plans endure forever,

and his purposes last eternally. Friends, I'm not a prophet,

and I don't predict the future, but I will tell

you this, and you can bank on this. God will

have the last word, and it's going to be good.

You can count on that. God will have the last word,

and it's going to be good. It's going to be good.

When you find someone who feels hopeless, it means they're

immature and unwise. Wise people who see from God's perspective

are always hopeful, no matter what it looks like. Not optimistic, hopeful,

big difference. I don't have time to go into that.

Number five. Here's the fifth thing you need to do.

Keep telling God. In other words, say to this to God,

over and over every day of your life. I trust

you no matter what. Keep telling God, I trust you

no matter what. If you do this, you'll be a

lot more at peace, no matter what happens and how

long all these period of this season of rapid change lasts.

If you do this, God, I trust you no matter what.

I want you to be a righteous person. Some one

twelve verse seven says this, the righteous man or a

woman does not fear bad news nor live in dread

of what might happen, for he is settled in his

mind or her mind that God will take care of him.

I will trust you no matter what. I have had

to say that thousands of times in my life. I

will trust you no matter what. When our youngest child

lost his lifelong battle with mental illness and took his life,

I had to say, I will trust you no matter what.

Doesn't mean I understand it, and a thousand other times,

I will trust you no matter what, anytime, anything seems

to be falling apart in your life, my friends say,

I trust you no matter what. Now. Right now, you

may feel under attacked. I'm not talking about all the

stuff we all know what's going on stuff in society.

I'm talking about stuff in your personal life, and you

may feel like you're being attacked from every angle. I

leave you with Psalm twenty seven, verse three. Even if

a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid,

And even if enemies attack me from all sides, I

will still trust God. That's the kind of life I'm

going to live. I invite you to live it with me.

Let's be different than the world. What's power heads. Even

if a whole army surround me, I will not be afraid,

And even if enemies attack me from all sides, I

will still trust God. The righteous man does not fear

bad news nor live in dread of what may happen,

for he is settled in his mind that God God

will take care of him. Follow me in this prayer.

Just say it in your mind. Say, Dear God, I

know change is unavoidable, but I thank you that you

have promised to use it for good in my life.

If I trust you God. I want to grow up.

I don't want to be a spiritual baby. I want

you to make me more like Jesus, with love and

joy and peace and patience, goodness of self control and faith.

And God, you know the people who've hurt me in

my life, and I thank you that you can even

use human error and sin for good if I give

it all to you. Help me to realize that what

I'm going through right now is a test of my faith.

You're testing me and then endurance produces character, and character

produces hope. Help me to remember these things. And Lord,

I want to start doing these practical steps during these

difficult days. I want to invest more time alone with you,

because those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.

Run and not grow weary, walk, keep going and not faint.

And God, I'm asking you to help me see your perspective.

I don't want to just know what everybody else knows.

I don't want information. I want wisdom. I want understanding.

I want to know your ways, God and Father. Instead

of asking and griping about what why is all this

going on? I want to ask, what do you want

me to learn? Like Paul, I want to learn to

be content in any and every situation, no matter what happens.

That you are my stability and you are my energy.

Help me to focus on what never changes. Thank you

that your word will always be the truth. Thank you

that you will never stop loving me. Thank you that

nothing that happens can change your plan or purpose for

my life. And God, I'm going to tell you the

rest of my life, including right now. I trust you

no matter what. I'm going to trust you no matter what.

Maybe you're doing that for the very first time tonight,

say Jesus Christ. I'm trusting you no matter what. You're

opening your life to Christ. Others you're doing it again.

I trust you. I'm going to trust you no matter what.

I surrender myself to you in your name. I prayed. Amen.

Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed

today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer

for the very first time, or you just recommitted your

life to Jesus again today, would you let me know

about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So

write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,

I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life

to Christ, and I'll send you some material that will

help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also

pray for you. God bless you.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy

you've chosen to study along with us today. You know

you can get hope and encouragement from Pastor Rick delivered

to your inbox every day. Just go to Pastorick dot

com and sign up for his free daily devotional. Rick

will be right back to close out our time today.

But first, do you ever wonder if your life really matters?

Or what on earth am I here for? Pastor Rick

says God has a good plan and purpose for your life,

and in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,

he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your

spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. Here's

Pastor Rick to tell you more.

One of the things that I've discovered is that everybody

eventually asks the questions of significance. Why am I here?

And what is my purpose? What on earth am I

here for? That's why I wrote the book Purpose Driven Life,

because I wanted to help people like you understand how

God created us for five eternal purposes. The Bible says

that long before we heard of Christ, he had his

eye on us, had his designs on us for glorious living.

That it was part of his overall purpose that he's

working out in everything and everyone. God has never made

a person that he doesn't have a purpose for. You know,

that simple message needs to be shared with the whole

new generation. A young girl who was twelve years old

when I wrote Purpose Driven Life is now twenty two,

and she needs to hear this essential message that God

has a plan, has a purpose, and has a reason

for everything that happens in our lives. So I've updated

the Purpose Driven Life. And what I did is, after

reading hundreds of thousands of comments that have come into

me over the past decade, I've added two new chapters.

It'll help you handle the two most common problems and

barriers to living a life of purpose. Now I want

you to have this newly revised, expanded copy of Purpose

Driven Life. I think you'll find it's a fresh reminder

of things that you may have forgotten when you first

read it. Or you might want to give the book

to somebody who has never read and is struggling to

find their purpose.

For a limited time, we're offering this timeless classic in

a special leather edition featuring gold foil cover art and

gilded pages. It's a great addition to your personal library,

and it also makes a wonderful gift with eternal benefits.

Get your special edition of The Purpose Driven Life with

a beautiful leather cover today as a thank you for

your gift to help take the Hope of Jesus to

people around the world through Daily Hope. Today is the

last day to get this great resource, so don't wait.

Go to pastorick dot com right now to get your copy.

That's Pastororik dot com. Or you can call eight hundred

six hundred five thousand four. That's eight hundred six hundred

five thousand four. And all this month, any gift you

give will be matched by very generous friends up to

one hundred thousand dollars. This matching grant is only available

until midnight December thirty first, so please contact us today again.

That's Pastororick dot com, or you can call eight hundred

six hundred five thousand four that's eight hundred six hundred

five thousand four. Thank you so much for your support,

and don't forget to tell us you listen to Daily

Hope on the radio. 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.