Rick Warren - When Your Setback Seems Irreversible - Part One

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

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue with a series

called how God Turns Setbacks into Comebacks. We're so glad

that you've joined us today. Now, if you know someone

who needs some encouragement right now, be sure to invite

them with a text or a phone call to listen

along with you. But first studies have shown the more

grateful a person is, the happier they are. But it's

not always easy to be thankful. That's why Pastor Rick

developed the Power of Gratitude. It's a special interactive Bible

study to help you grow your gratitude. You can find

out more by going to Pastorick dot com while you

listen to today's message. If you want, you can just

text the word hope to eight hundred six hundred five

thousand and four for more information. That's the word hope

to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Right now,

here's Pastor Rick with part one of a message called

when You're setback seems irreversible.

A setback is a loss of progress, a defeat of

a plan, or a reversal of good fortune. In other words,

it's anything that sets you back that's setback. And today

we're going to look at what do you do when

your setback seems irreversible. You just think the door is

totally closed and it's never opening again. What do you

do when you're setback appears to be permanent, it looks irreversible.

You think I'm never going to climb out of this hole. Well,

the answer to that question is found in the life

of a man in the Bible named Job. There's a

book by his name, almost in the middle of your Bible.

If you open your Bible right in the middle, you'll

come to Psalms, and the book right before that is Job.

It's probably the first book written in the Bible, and

it's about a man named Job. Now, in his day,

Job was the healthiest man in the world. He was

very powerful, very famous, very important, very influential.

But on a single.

Day he literally lost everything. Every one of his sons

and daughters he had a big family, were murdered by

terrorists on a single day.

That's enough right there.

But then natural disasters wiped out all of his crops

and all of his livestock.

They all died on a single day.

It was a disaster, He lost all of his wealth,

and he became deathly ill with an incurable and extremely

painful disease. Now, talk about having a bad day. If

you want to read that story and the story behind it,

it's in the Book of Job.

But everything went wrong in his life.

That's a real setback, and it seemed like it was

irreversible Job Chapter thirty, verse twenty six and twenty seven.

Job says, I looked for good to come, but evil

came instead. And I waited for some light, but darkness

fell instead. And the churning inside of me, you know,

that upset stomach never stops, and waves of misery crash

over me. I have no doubt in a crowd this

size at Saddleback Church this weekend, that some of you

are feeling like Job. And yet at the end of

the story of the Book of Job, he has one

of the greatest comebacks in history. He loses it all, health, wealth, family, everything,

posterity and prestige, but at the end he gains it

all back in even a greater way. Now, this story's

gonna encourage you no matter what kind of setback you're

experiencing today. What we're gonna do is. We're gonna look

at the five things that Job did when everything fell

apart in his life. You're gonna need this someday if

you don't need it right now. So I encourage you

to write this down and to help you remember, I've

created a little acrostic around the word trust t R

U S T. These are the five things that Job

did to trust God for a comeback when it's setback

seemed irreversible.

So what do you do?

What do you do when you've been devastated by something

so big that you think I'm never getting out of this,

I'm never coming back from this. You trust, and you

do the five things that Job did. So let's get

right into it. The T in our trust acrosstic stands

for tell God exactly how you feel. That's where you

start when you had a major setback. You start by

unloading your emotions on God. The first thing you do

when you're in pain, you tell God how you feel.

You don't tell him how you think you ought to feel.

You don't tell him how you should feel. You don't

tell what would be right to feel. You tell him

how you actually feel. Did you know that when God

listens to you, he wants you to be honest, and

that when you honest to God about your emotions, that's

actually an act of worship. Even when you're disappointed, even

when you're expressing frustration, even when you express doubt and

fear or anything.

To God.

He said, God, I'm afraid, God, I'm guilty. God, I'm resentful. God,

I'm sad. God, life sucks. This is terrible. I can't

stand what I'm going through. When you're talking to God,

you're still focusing on him, and that's worship. And so

you start, no matter what's gone wrong in your life,

by telling God exactly how you feel.

Now.

Notice Job's reaction to the disaster in his life. Job

says this. It says this about Job. Job stood up.

He tore his robes in grief. That, by the way,

is a Middle Eastern custom. And he shaved his head,

that's a Middle Eastern custom. And then he fell to

the ground and he worshiped God. He's acting in total

humility and in despair and in doubt, and in frustration

and anger. Anytime you have a loss in your life,

any kind of loss, you're gonna have four emotions. You're

gonna have anger. Why did this happen to me. You're

gonna have grief. What have I lost?

You're gonna have shock what's going on here? Uh?

And you're gonna and you're gonna have questions, why did

this happen? I can't believe this is going on. You're

gonna have fear. What's gonna happen next?

You know what?

You need to express every one of those emotions to God.

You need don't need to hold it in. You don't

need to say, uh, you know God, I'm happy about this.

You can say God, I'm angry, God, I'm fearful. God,

I'm frustrated, I'm scared. You tell them exactly how you feel.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope rip 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 com.

Did you know? Experts have discovered that gratitude is the

healthiest human emotion. It makes you more resistant to stress

and increases your overall happiness and satisfaction. In fact, study

show the more grateful a person is, the happier they are.

That's the Power of Gratitude. The Bible tells us to rejoice, always,

pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. So it's

clear that God wants us to develop an attitude of gratitude.

But we all know it's not always easy to feel grateful.

That's why Pastoric developed a Bible study called the Power

of Gratitude. This innovative study is filled with scripture, teaching, exercises, quotes, prayers,

and journal pages. As you go through the study, you'll

discover the many and often unique things you have to

be grateful for every day. You'll develop the lifelong habit

of expressing gratitude to God, a habit that leads to

true happiness and satisfaction. Wilson to you Pastor Rick's Power

of Gratitude Bible study to say thanks when you give

a gift, to help daily hope, take God's word to

people around the world. Go to Pastorick dot com right

now to get your copy, or you can call eight

hundred six hundred five zero zero four that's Pastorick dot com.

Or call eight hundred six hundred at five zero zero four.

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

to let us know which radio station you heard us on.

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

Rick's Daily Hope.

Anytime you have a loss in your life, any kind

of loss, you're gonna have four emotions. You're gonna have anger,

Why did this happen to me? You're gonna have grief

what have I lost? You're gonna have shock what's going

on here? And you're gonna and you're gonna have questions,

why did this happen? I can't believe this is going on.

You're gonna have fear. What's gonna happen next?

What?

You need to express every one of those emotions to God.

Don't need to hold it in. You don't need to

say you know God, I'm happy about this. You can

say God, I'm angry, God, I'm fearful. God, I'm frustrated,

I'm scared. You tell him exactly how you feel. Let

me let you in on a little secret. Some of you

have told this too before, but some of this is

new for you. God can handle any emotion you've got,

and you know why.

Because He gave them to you.

The only reason you have any feelings, you have any emotions,

is because you were made in the image of God.

It's what makes you different from animals. And God is

an emotional God. The reason you have emotions is because

God has emotions. All those emotions came from him, and

he can handle them. He can handle your anger, he

can handle your doubt, he can handle your fear, he

can handle your complaints.

All of that.

Fact, Job was brutally honest with God. In Job chapter seven,

verse eleven, he says this, I can't be quiet. I'm angry.

I have to speak. He's saying, God, I'm ticked off.

And if you read the book of Job, you will

actually see a progression in his reaction to his giant

setback where he literally lost everything devastated. First, he expresses confusion,

what's going on in my life? He ever felt like that?

Yeah?

Then number two he starts complaining. Then he starts blaming

God for all this pain, and at one point he says, God,

you didn't do this right. You handled it wrong. You

let all this bad stuff happen to me, and God,

I don't like it or like you right now? Well,

God can handle that emotion. The right response to loss,

or to tragedy or to disaster He's not to grin

and bear it the right response when someone causes a

setback in your life. God never wants you to fake

an emotion. Remember that God never wants you to fake emotion.

I want you to put on a happy face. That's

faking it. Never, never, never. He doesn't want you to

fake emotion. Doesn't want you to say pious platitudes what

you think you ought to say to God in prayer.

He wants you to honestly tell him how you're struggling.

God.

I'm grieving right now. God, I'm hurting right now. God,

I'm in a lot of pain. I'm depressed, I'm discouraged.

I'm having some doubts. You tell it all.

To God and God can handle it.

I'm just wondering how many of you who are listening

to me are parents, because if you're a parent, you

know what I'm talking about.

Now.

This may have never happened to you, but it certainly

has happened to me. Sometimes my children, I know this

will shock you, actually question my judgment. Sometimes my kids

question my judgment. Now, my kids never questioned that I

love them. They know I love them. They've never doubted that,

and they don't question that I've been around a lot

longer than they have been. I've experienced a whole lot

more in life than they have. But sometimes they do

question my wisdom, Daddy's wisdom. And you know what, I'd

rather have an honest conversation with my kids than have

them stuff it. I'd rather have my kids say, you know, Dad,

I think you're way.

Off on this.

Why did you do that? I think that was a

dumb thing to do. I'd rather have my kids talk

to me honestly than to stuff it down, And so

would God. Lamentations two nineteen says this cry out in

the night, pour out your heart like water.

What's that mean?

Spill your guts, pour out your heart like water in

prayer to the Lord with God, honesty is always the

best policy. And at the end of the story, God

actually commends and praises and encourages Job because he did

this first step in the trust. He told God exactly

how I feel.

He was honest.

Job never stop trusting God, even when he angry, even

when he's upset, even when he didn't understand it, when

he was confused, when he had doubts, even when he

thought God had messed it all up. He still kept

trusting God, but he was just honest. Now, the Bible

gives us a lot of examples of many godly people

expressed their frustration to God. One time there was a

guy named Jeremiah and he gets upset at what God did.

He says, God, you have deceived me. He's a prophet.

Jeremiah is a prophet.

He says, I think you've lied to me, God, and

things haven't turned out the way you told me they

were going to turn out, and I'm mad at you.

God allows that in the Bible. Another time, there's a

woman named Naomi and things don't go well for her.

She says, call me bitter, because God has made my

life bitter.

It's in the Bible.

Another time, there's a guy named David who says, Lord,

I've taken the worst from you, and I've taken all

that you can give, and I'm fed up.

I've had it.

And God says, you're a man after my own heart.

These people were trusting God to handle their emotions, and

Job did that too. The expressed his fear and his

questions and his frustrations and his doubts. He says, I'm

still gonna trust you. Lord, even though I don't understand it,

and I'm gonna do exactly what you tell me to do,

even though I feel like blowing it all off. And

I'm going to tell you how I feel because I

know you can handle it. You know, there's another guy

in the Bible named Habaccoc. I would like to have

that name Habacca. He had the same problem. And Habaccock

wrote a little short book near the end of the

Old Testament of the Bible. It's called the Book of

you guessed it, Habacchock. It's only three chapters long, and

you can summarize the whole book in one word, Why

Why God? Why is this happening to me? If you've

ever felt that question, why is this happened to me?

Why? God? Why me? Why? Now? Then you need to

go read the Book of a Backack.

What happened in his lifetime is that Habacoa saw his

nation being overrun by terrorists I sound familiar. And they

were distevastating the country, and they were brutal, and they

were destroying his nation right in front of his eyes.

And Habakik was really upset about it, and he complains

to God. He says, God, I don't know what I'm

going to do, and he's asking why. There's another guy

who did that named David. David went through a really

tough time and he didn't know how to handle it.

And here's what he says in some one sixteen, verse ten,

in the middle of his setback is deep despair. David says,

I believed, so I said I'm completely ruined. Now that

sounds like a contradiction. Look at that verse on your outline.

David says, I believed, so I said I'm ruined. What

in the world's he talking about?

What is he saying?

Well, what he's saying is because I believe in God,

I know I can complain to God. You every thought

about this. Who does an atheist complain to himself? I mean,

if you complain to God about your life, it means

that you at least believe there's a God. And David says,

I believed. So I complained and I kept on believing

even when I said I'm completely crushed. There's no contradiction

in that question. What frustrations have you never talked about?

Let me ask you that question again. What frustrations have

you never talked about? You've never talked to God about

him much less talk to a counselor about it or whatever.

That frustration at work, that frustration in your marriage, that

frustration with your body, that frustration and a relationship, a

friendship with your parents, that frustration with that wacko relative

of yours and your feeling. I don't like this God,

but you've never talked to God about it. God can

handle it. The first step to trusting God on the

road to come back is to tell him exactly how

you feel.

That's the tea, tell them exactly how I feel. Now.

The second way to trust God for.

A comeback when everything looks fatal, final and no way

out of it is the r in trust that it

stands for refuse to become bitter. Refuse to become bitter. Now,

it's okay to tell God you're mad or you're sad,

or you're angry, or you're depressed, but you don't let

that grief or frustration or worry turn into resentment and bitterness,

because really, what bitterness is is a bitterness to saying

I don't trust you God, bitness to saying I don't

see the big picture when those flames are coming around

my life and I'm getting burned on every side. How

could God allow this to happen to me? Bitterness is

really saying God, I don't understand what you're doing.

And I'm not just mad, I'm bitter. I'm resentful, and

that is like poison. Now.

Job did not get bitter. He saw the big picture.

And for some of you today, the first time you're

going to see the big picture with Job, you're going

to read Job there was nothing about marketplace in his life,

but you're going to see the picture, the big picture

of that. God is still in control now. On job Wood,

he says this, when everything bad happened to him, I

came naked from my mother's womb, and I shall have

nothing when I die. Now let me just pause there.

You know I have three kids. I was there when

they were all, you know, born, and they did come

in with nothing. They none of them brought toys, none

of them brought a portfolio, none of them had a briefcase.

And so I know, nobody comes into this world with something.

You come in naked.

And also I would say that I have done hundreds,

maybe thousands of funerals, and I've never seen a U

Hall park on a grave site. So in this passage,

you come with nothing, you leave with nothing. That's true,

he says, the Lord gave me everything I have, and

it's his right to take anything away. Blessed be the

name of the Lord. And it says in all of this,

I want you to underline this Job did not sin

by blaming God. You know, if you're to study the

Book of Job, you'd find that the main question of

the book is will you love God and will you

trust God no matter what happens? Why do you worship God?

Why do you love God only when things go good?

Or will you love God and serve God no matter

what happens? Friends, this is the ultimate test of your faith.

Will you worship God even though everything's going wrong in

your life?

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

happy that you've chosen to study along with us today.

If you'd like to resc hope and encouragement every day

delivered right to your inbox, then sign up for Rick's

free daily devotional by going to Pastorick dot com. Right now,

Rick will be back to close out our time today.

But first, did you know that experts have discovered that

gratitude is the healthiest human emotion.

It makes you more.

Resistant to stress and increases your overall happiness and satisfaction.

In fact, studies show the more grateful a person is,

the happier they are. That's the power of gratitude. The

Bible tells us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give

things in all circumstances. So it's clear that God wants

us to develop an attitude of gratitude. But we all

know it's not always easy to feel grateful. That's why

Pastor Rick developed a Bible study called the Power of Gratitude.

This innovative study is filled with scripture, teaching, exercises, quotes, prayers,

and journal pages. As you go through the study, you'll

discover the many and often unique things you have to

be grateful for every day. You'll develop the lifelong habit

of expressing gratitude to God, a habit that leads to

true happiness and satisfaction. We'll send you Pastor Rick's Power

of Gratitude Bible study to say thanks when you give

a gift to help daily hope, take God's word to

people around the world. Go to Pastorick dot com right

now to get your copy, or you can just call

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

dot com or call eight hundred six hundred five thousand

and four. Thanks so much for your support, and don't

forget to let us know which radio station you hurt

us on. Here's Rick with a special message you know.

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