Rick Warren - Find PEACE By Letting Go of What You Can't Control

Let go and let God. Let go and let God.

That is the essence of meekness. It is surrendering. submitting,

agreeing to what God wants to do in your life.

It's letting God be God in your life. God doesn't

want you to be weak, but he does want you

to be meek. And the Bible teaches that it is

one of the keys to stress reduction in your life. Now, folks,

I don't know a phrase that'll do more for your

health physically or emotionally than this phrase, let go and

let God. If you'll begin to practice this phrase in

your life, it will definitely relieve stress. when you let

go and let God. It will definitely eliminate worry when

you let go and let God. It will definitely diffuse

anger if you'll let go and let God. And it

will definitely do all kinds of benefits like end your hurt,

end resentment if you'll let go and let God. How

do you do that? How do you let go and

let God? The Bible tells us you do it four ways.

And to help you remember this, I just put it

in a little acrostic, M-E-E-K. These are the four ways

to relieve stress in your life on the road to

getting healthy again. The M in meek stands for the

first way you can let go and let God, and

it's this. Make Jesus the manager of my life. Make

Jesus the manager of my life. Now, the problem is

we want to be the manager of our own lives.

So we argue and we disagree with God. We think

we know what's best. We think we know better. And

the reason why you're under a lot of stress is

constantly in your mind, you're fighting God. You don't think

about it, but you do it all the time. You

think you know better than God. And so you argue

with him. I know God says to do this, but

I want to do this. And every morning you get

up and you have a decision to make. Who's going

to be in charge of my life? Do you remember

that old TV program, Who's the Boss? Remember that show?

That is one of the fundamental questions of life. Who's

going to be the boss in your life? Who's going

to be the manager of your life? You or God?

Who's going to be in control? You or God? Who's

going to call the shots? You or God? Who's going

to be the one that directs and leads in your life?

You or God. And every day, moment by moment, you

are making that decision. When you choose to make yourself

the manager of your own life, it causes conflict, it

causes confusion, it causes stress, and it causes a lot

of turmoil in your life. God says, why don't you

just relax? That's the first step to stress relief. And

let Christ be the manager of your life. Look at

this first verse, Job 22, verse 21. Read it with me.

Job 22:21

Stop quarreling with God. If you agree with him, you

will have peace at last and things will go well

for you. I want you to underline or circle two

things in that sentence. Peace at last and things will

go well. Peace at last and things will go well.

How many of you would like to have in your

life peace at last and have things go well? Everybody

would like to have that. Well, he tells us, stop

quarreling with God. We say, God, I don't like the

way you made me. You made me too tall or

too short, too fat, too skinny. Why didn't you give

me different parents? Why didn't you give me different talents?

I don't like the way you made me. And God says,

I made you because I have a unique plan for

your life. And I made you that way so you

could fulfill the plan I have for you. Now the

stress comes when you try to be the manager of

your life and you don't understand the way God made you.

And so you start trying to plan your plan for

your life. You get under stress. You do not let

go and let God. And you're uptight all the time.

God says, I made you. And if you'll let me,

I will manage you in the way that makes the

most of what I made you to be. Because God

knows how to make the most of your life more

than you do. So you need to relax. You need

to let go and let God. Notice this next verse.

Matthew 16, 24. I love this in the message paraphrase.

Jesus says... Anyone who intends to come to me has

to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat.

I am. I like that. You're not in the driver's seat.

I am. Now, here's what Christians do. We know that

when we become believers in Christ, we say, okay, Jesus Christ,

you take over the driver's seat. We then promptly hop

into the backseat and do backseat driving. Oh, yeah, Jesus

is in the driver's seat in my life. But you're

reaching over his shoulders going, no, no, turn this way,

turn that way, stop, wait, go forward, faster, slower. Oh,

I want to go that way. I want to see

that side. Jesus said, am I the driver or not?

You have Jesus in the driver's seat, but you're constantly

giving him advice from the backseat saying, this is the

way we ought to go. Now, I want you to

circle a phrase in that sense. Let me lead. Let

me lead. Do you do that? Do you let God

lead in your life on a day-by-day basis? Or are

you still trying to lead? Many years ago, Kay and

I took dancing lessons from Arthur Murray Studios. We're special.

And the Arthur Murray Studios dance instructor told us that

one of the biggest problems couples have is who's going

to lead? And when they both try to lead, they

just step on each other's feet all the time and

it doesn't look very pretty. Your life doesn't look very

pretty when you're trying to lead with God at the

same time. You just need to let God be God

and make Jesus the manager of your life. Now if

you wait until you come to the moment of temptation

and say, now I'm going to do what God says

or not, you're already a goner. Maturity, spiritual maturity is

deciding in advance to obey God. God, you're the manager

of my life. You created me. You formed me. You

shaped me. You're the potter. I'm the clay. And so

I'm going to trust you. And so I'm already telling

you up front, I'll do whatever you ask me to do.

If it says go here, I'll go there. If it

says do this, I'll do that. But you make it

in advance. There's an old hymn that goes, trust and obey,

for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey. You need to do that.

You need to make Jesus the manager of your life.

Look at this last verse. Give yourself to the Lord.

Trust in him and read the rest with me. And

he will help you. Now, when it says give yourself,

what's it talking about? It means to abandon yourself. It

means to let go. It means to surrender, to submit,

to say, you know, I'm all yours, God. I'm going

to go. I'm going to bend with you. You know,

it's kind of like the trees in my backyard. Kay

and I live out in the canyon, and our home

is out on a point of a canyon that it's

unobstructed for about a quarter of a mile. And so

the gale winds come down and hit our home at

full force quite frequently, 60, 70 miles or more an hour.

And I've had different kinds of trees and some of

them break and some of them don't. The difference is,

do they bend when the wind comes? There are some

that are rigid when the wind hits them. They refuse

to bend and as a result, they pop off. They break.

We lose branches. We lose limbs. Some have got uprooted.

Because they are stiff. They're rigid. They resist. On the

other hand, the trees in my backyard that bend with

the wind, they're the ones that last forever. They bend,

they give into it, they go with the flow. Now

in your life, you can be rigid and you can

reject the winds of God. Go, I'm not going to

go that way. And you're going to break. Eventually, you're

going to break. On the other hand, if you give

in and you submit and you say, God, you know

what's best for me anyway and you love me. I'm

going to trust you. Then you will last throughout the

lifetime without all these breaks and hurts and pains in

your life. It says give yourself and it says trust.

You know, in many ways, life is kind of like

riding a roller coaster. Now think about this. In a

roller coaster, it's got a beginning and an end. And

between those two, there are a lot of hills and valleys.

And between those two, there are some times when it

speeds up and there are times when it slows down.

And you don't have control over either of those. And

your life is a lot like a roller coaster. What

you need to do is you need to let God

strap you in to the roller coaster and just go

along for the ride. Now, I used to worry and

be afraid of roller coasters, but I'm not anymore because

I know it's not just a machine. There is an operator,

an unseen operator behind that roller coaster. And they've got

cameras pointing on all angles of it. And he's in

control the whole time. And I don't have to worry

because the unseen operator knows where I started, knows where

I'm going to end, and he's going to get me

safely to the end. There may be some twirls. There

may be some ups and downs. There are a lot

of times in my life where I feel like it's

out of control, but it's not. There are times on

a roller coaster you may feel like this is out

of control, but it's not. There is an unseen operator

pulling the switches. And doing and going to make sure

that you start right, you end right, and you go

safely through the journey. There is an unseen operator in

your life. His name is God. He knows the beginning

and the end of your life. And he knows, yeah,

you're going to have some flips in life. You're going

to have some twirls. You're going to have some mountains.

You're going to have some valleys. Some fast and slow times.

But he's in control. So you don't need to worry.

You need to just sit back, get strapped in, and

enjoy the ride. What is that called? It's called meekness.

It's called letting go and letting God. And that's the

first step to reducing stress in your life. Make Jesus

the manager of my life. Number two, this first E

in meek stands for establish God's word as the authority

of my life. I make Jesus the manager of my life.

Number two, I establish God's word as the authority of

my life. Why is this a stress reliever? Because if

you don't have an authority in your life, you're going

to listen to all different kinds of conflicting opinions. And

one day you'll decide this. Another day you'll decide that.

And one day you can't decide. And indecision causes stress.

But if you decide that God's word is going to

be the authority of your life, it's real simple. It

simplifies decision making. We all need authorities in our lives

for our own health. Last Wednesday night, after the pastor's

conference that I'd been teaching this week, my family decided

to go to the beach at about 9 o'clock at night.

Now that's real typical for the Warrens. We'll kind of, hey,

let's go do this. So at 9.30 at night, we're

down at Hole in the Fence, Capistrano Beach, frolicking in

the ocean at 9.30 at night. running up and down

in the waves and having fun. It's almost pitch black,

couple of street lights out there. We're just having a

great time. And then all of a sudden, somebody in

our family, I think it was Kay, saw this little

tiny sign that was posted in the sand. In Spanish

and English, it said, contaminated water, stay out. Okay, now,

That sign represents an authority. It is saying, don't you

dare put your feet in this water. It's contaminated. Now,

why was that law posted? There is an authority there.

And why was that law posted? To ruin my fun?

To make my life a big bummer? Why was it there?

It was there for my own health. Now, how should

I react to that authority? How should I react to

that sign?

Why?

Well, I have a lot of options and you have

a lot of options when you react to God's authority,

the word. I mean, I could say this is a

stupid sign. I know better than this sign. So I'm

going to go ahead and play in the water anyway.

And I just reject the authority. It's dumb. I don't

like it. It's dumb. So I'm going to do my

own thing. Or I could say this sign is out

of date. It was for another time and another age.

And it really doesn't apply to me because it's out

of date, I'm sure. Or I could say, this sign

doesn't really mean what it says. When it says stay out,

that's just your interpretation. I interpret the word stay out

as meaning go right ahead. Go right ahead. That's just

your interpretation. Or I could say, I'm sure God would

want me to ignore this sign because God wants me

to have fun. Now the Bible is filled with all

kinds of rules, commands, and things. God says, do this,

don't do this, make sure you do this. Why does

he do that? Because he is a loving God. And

everything that's in this book is not there to make

your life miserable. It's there to protect you. It's there

for your own health. It's there for your own good.

A loving God who knows more than you is saying,

here's the rules for life. If you ignore them, you

only get hurt. Now, God gave us the Bible to

be an authority. You say, well, I don't want an

authority in my life. Well, I hate to tell you this,

but you're already controlled by something. As Bob Dylan used

to sing years ago, you're going to have to serve somebody.

Right now, you're controlled by something. You may be controlled

by popular culture. And so you buy a certain kind

of car because everybody else buys that kind of car.

You may be controlled by the opinions of others or

the approval of your parents. You may be controlled by

your husband or your wife. You may be controlled by

your own desires, appetites, and drives. You may be controlled

by an addiction or a habit. You may be controlled

by a memory. But I want to tell you something.

Everybody in this room is controlled by something. You may

even be controlled by your own ego. Everybody's controlled by something.

God gave us the Bible for four reasons. Notice the

next verse. It says there, All scripture is inspired by God.

And it is useful to teach us what is true

and make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It straightens us out and teaches us to do what

is right. Notice the four things. It's useful to teach

us what is true, number one. Number two, it makes

us realize what's wrong in our lives. Number three, it

straightens us out. And number four, it teaches us to

do what is right. That's why God gave us this

signpost called the Bible. Here's a letter that represents the

difference the Bible can make in your life. Dear Pastor Rick,

I was raised in a good Christian home and we

went to church every week. But for years, I made

myself the authority for what was right and wrong. Instead

of following God's standard, I just made up my own.

I thought I knew what would make me happy. Even

though I knew what the Bible said, I often ignored

it thinking it was impractical or uncomfortable. I didn't want

anything cramping my style. I made a lot of money

in business, but the feeling of success would fade quickly

and I turned to an illicit affair to fill the

hole in my heart. In my heart, I knew adultery

was wrong, but true to form, I made up all

kinds of excuses for ignoring God's standard, for having an affair,

and eventually for justifying my divorce. Next, I tried partying

and pleasure, alcohol and cocaine were the order of the day.

It gave me a way to mask my pain and

deny what I had become, totally self-centered and egotistical. In

spite of all the hurt that I caused her, my

girlfriend agreed to marry me, and in 1994, as my wife,

she told me enough was enough. I knew I had

to get my life together. I was going to lose

both my wife and my little daughter, so I stopped

going to bars, but I continued drinking at home every night.

At my wife's urging, we started to come on Saddleback

in 1996. Every Sunday, always nursing a hangover, the music

would move me to tears and your message from God's

word gave me hope that God still loved me and

could change me. One Sunday, I heard a testimony that

was just like my story. It made me realize how

much unnecessary pain I had caused by ignoring God's commandments.

But it also gave me hope that God could straighten

out my life if I just start following his word

and trusting Jesus Christ to guide my life. So in 1996,

I began attending Celebrate Recovery. What I found was a

bunch of guys who had nothing but love in their

hearts and a desire to follow God's word in order

to get healthy. Five years later, my life is completely

changed for the better. Jesus Christ has become the most

important person in my life. My wife and I were

baptized and joined Saddleback. And God's word has become my

guidebook for living every day. This week, my dad passed

away on Wednesday. He was a devout believer. And I

now have the peace that I will see him again

in heaven because I put my trust in Christ too.

I don't always understand why God commands us to do

certain things, but I have learned that when I trust

him and I follow the directions, I always end up

in a better place than I could have imagined. And

I might add, you end up with less stress too. Now,

why should I depend on God's word? Why should I

make this book my standard? If God says do it,

I do it. If God says don't, I don't. Tell

you why. Because it's dependable. Why is it dependable? Because

it doesn't change anything. Fads change, opinions change, even science changes. Today,

by the time a science textbook is in print, it's

already out of date. A couple weeks ago, I threw

out a list, a stack of computer books about that

big because they're all worthless now, they're irrelevant. Wrong operating systems,

wrong programs, etc. Everything else changes, but God's word doesn't

change because the truth never changes. And God's laws don't change.

When Alan Shepard, who was the first American astronaut in space,

was interviewed by a reporter before the first space shot,

the reporter asked him, on what are you depending? And

Alan Shepard said that God's laws will not change. Pretty

good answer. I mean, what do you think if, say,

gravity worked every other day? Would that kind of cramp

your style? I would think so. God's laws are immutable.

They are unchanging. And if you want to get healthy

again emotionally, if you want to get healthy again relationally,

if you want to get healthy again physically or any

other way, you just need to make Jesus Christ the

manager of your life. And you need to make God's

word the authority of your life. And you need to

commit the commitments that David did in Psalm 119. Look

at these. I have made up my mind to obey

your laws forever, no matter what. Have you made that commitment?

Have you made that commitment? to obey God's laws forever,

no matter what? That's a stress reliever. How about the

next one? I will never lay aside your laws, for

you have used them to restore my joy and health.

God says, I'll restore your joy and health if you

just do what I tell you to do. Follow the instructions. Meekness,

letting go and letting God is saying, God, I really

believe you're smarter than me. So I'm going to do

what you tell me to do. Tom's going to talk

about the next one.

On the back of your outline, the second E in meekness,

if I want to really enjoy God's power in my life,

is to embrace God's spirit as the power for my life.

When you take a look at God's Word and what

it says and how we're to live life, are there

some things in here that seem a little difficult to do?

In fact, even some that seem impossible to do? How

about that one, don't worry about anything?

Is that tough for.

Any of you like it is for me? How about

that one, don't ever grumble about anything?

You ever struggle with that one?

You begin to look through this book and you think,

that's impossible. I can't love everyone. I can't do that.

If you've ever felt that way, Congratulations. You're in exactly

the right spot. Because you've realized the power doesn't come

from you. It comes from God. It comes from what

only God can do. It's his power that makes the difference.

God never asks us to do anything without being willing

to provide us the power to do it. Look at

this verse from Ezekiel 36. I will put my spirit

in you, and I will enable you to live by

my laws. The secret of power in life, the secret

of reducing stress in life, is living life not by

your willpower, but by God's power. Galatians chapter 3 verse

Galatians 3:10

10 says, anyone who tries to live by his own effort,

independent of God, is doomed to failure. One of the

reasons you and I face so much stress is we

try to do it on our own. When God is

willing and able to give us the power that we

need to live life. You see, meekness is really about

two words that we don't like. It's about submitting and surrendering.

And those are scary words for us. A month or

so ago when I had surgery to repair my Achilles tendon.

The surgery part of it didn't really make me as

nervous as that part where they were going to put

me to sleep. And I wasn't going to know what

was going on. Don't look at me like you wouldn't

worry about that kind of stuff. Whenever we're out of

control and whenever we feel like we have to give

control to somebody else, we worry about that. But if

I was going to get healthy again, I had to

submit and surrender to some doctors who knew how to

do what I didn't know how to do. If you're

going to get healthy again, you've got to submit and

surrender to God who knows how to do and can

give you the power to do what you can't do

on your own. One of the greatest tragedies of life

is the fact that because we've been hurt in human relationships,

people we've trusted have let us down. Times that we

have let somebody's promise begin to change our lives when

we found out they didn't mean it at all. We

feel like that maybe we can't trust God either. The

truth is, do not let those human relationships that have

let you down keep you from trusting the only one

who will never let you down. You can trust Him

in any and every circumstance to give you the power

that you need. He will never hurt you. The fact is,

You and I are saved by God's grace. That's how

we're forgiven. But we also live by his grace. It's

the same grace that gives us the power to live.

Look at this verse in your outline from Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Would you read it with me? You began your life

in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to

make it complete by your own power?

That is foolishness.

As we grow older and older as Christians, the longer

you're a believer in Christ, the more you begin to

struggle with trying to do God's will on your own power.

You know what you need to do? Lean back and

rely on God's power. A power to do what you

cannot do. He has the power to make a difference.

He has the strength to do what you cannot do.

That verse, Philippians 4.13, is in your outline. Would you

read it with me? I have the strength to face

all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

The fourth way to let go and let God is

to keep Jesus the focus of my life. I make

Jesus the manager of my life. I establish God's word

as the authority of my life. I embrace God's spirit

as the power for my life. And I keep Jesus

Christ as the focus of my life. That is a

stress reliever. Hebrews 12 says, we must keep our eyes

on Jesus who leads us and makes our faith complete.

Do you remember when Peter was walking on water, that

miracle out there in the Bible? As long as he

kept his eyes on Jesus, he's doing the impossible, what

nobody could do. But when he took his eyes off Jesus,

he looks down at the water, he sank. And the

reason why some of you are sinking today is you've

got your eyes on your problem. You've got your eyes

on your circumstance. You've got your eyes on the difficulty.

You've taken your eyes off the Lord. Here's my question.

Has what you've been living for up to this point

made the life that you've always wanted? Or has it

betrayed you and left maybe an emptiness that you really

don't like to admit? This is a daily struggle, folks.

Who's going to be in charge of your life? And

no doubt some of you are locked in a WWF

match with God over this. And you may think you're

the rock, but you're up against the rock of ages.

And you're going to lose. Your arms are too short

to box with God. Why box with somebody who loves you,

made you, sent his son to die for you, and

knows what will make you happy more than you do?