Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): 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 23 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. Up next, part two of a message called Relaxing in God's Goodness.

Pastor Rick Warren: Ecclesiastes chapter four. And remember Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. And he says this, "Here's another thing that I've seen on earth that makes no sense. Some people don't have any kids or family or even friends. In other words, no relationships. Yet they work obsessively, never taking a break. There's no end to their toil and they're never content with what they've done or earned."

They never ask, and then he asks them very important questions that if you're in this category, you probably ought to ask them yourself. They never ask, "Why am I always working to do more? Why am I always doing that? Why am I always working to do more? And why don't I let myself enjoy life?" And here's the big one: "Who cares? Who cares? Who will get what I leave behind? I don't have any relationships. So what's this big career that I'm working for and amassing accomplishments and achievements and a pile of money? Who cares? Who's gonna get what I leave behind? What a senseless and miserable way to live."

He says, "You're better off having someone to enjoy and share the rewards of your work." When I value achievement more than relationships... God did not put you on earth to mark things off your to-do list. He put you here to learn how to love. He says it over and over in scripture: to learn to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and to learn to love your neighbors as yourself. Tom preached a classic sermon on this three weeks ago.

That's what matters. Not how many accomplishments I have in life, not how many achievements I check off in life, not how many goals I reach in life. When you get to heaven, God isn't going to say, "Tell me your goals and did you reach them?" He's just not going to say that. When you get to heaven, God's going to say, "Tell me about your relationships. Did you get to know me? Did you get to know my son Jesus Christ? Did you love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? And how about other people? How's your score on relationships with other people?"

Because you can hit home runs all day and strike out in relationships and God's saying, "Wrong answer. Sorry, you missed it. I did not put you on earth simply to accomplish goals, to make a lot of money, to do really cool things. I put you on earth first of all to learn to love, and you can't learn to love if you don't have any deep relationships."

Wow. This is why we don't relax: misplaced identity. I base my worth on my work, so I pour all my energy into that. Or materialism: I always want more, so I gotta get more money to get more. Or envy: I want to be like what other people are like and so I'm following their ridiculous lifestyle too, and they're stressed out. Or I value achievement over relationships. He goes, "Why am I doing this?" They never ask, "Why am I always working to do more? Why don't I let myself enjoy life? And who cares? Who's gonna get what's left behind anyway?"

There's a fifth reason that people don't relax and it's insecurity. Insecurity is when I'm afraid I won't have enough. I was once sitting at a dinner table with some people who were fabulously wealthy, in the multimillion-dollar category. And I asked that person, "So, how much more do you think you need to be secure?" And the guy looked me straight in the eye and he said, "About 20, 30 million more." I'm going, "He has no idea that when he gets that he's going to say it's not enough." Because it's never enough. You cannot have security if it can be taken from you, and you can have a lot, a lot of money and it can be taken from you.

But it's always more, and I'm insecure and I'm afraid that I'm not going to have enough. So I keep working, keep working, keep working, keep working. Here's what the Bible says. Ecclesiastes 6:7, I love this in the Message, "We work to feed our appetites but meanwhile our souls go hungry." Our souls go hungry. Does that sound familiar? I'm so afraid I'm not going to have enough physically, materially, that I'm giving up my spiritual depth in order to get it. We work to feed our appetites, but meanwhile our souls go hungry.

Or how about this verse? Psalm 127 verse two. God says this in the Living Bible: "It is senseless, senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing and worrying," there's the reason, insecurity, "fearing and worrying that you won't have enough. For God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest." So go home right now and take a nap. That's probably some of all you need as we look at the causes of our difficulties.

So how do you do this? How do I learn to relax? How do I live a more sane life, a more balanced life, a less stressed and more blessed life? Instead of living a restless life, how in the world do I live a rest-filled or restful life? Well, I'm going to show you the antidotes to all five of these because God in his word gives us the antidote to every one of these causes.

So let's look at the solution if you want to get off the rat race, if you want to relax in God's goodness, you want to have a more rest-filled life regardless of the way it's been in the past. What do you do? Well, you trust your shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I will lack nothing. I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures and he will lead me beside still waters. If you're following God, if you're following the good shepherd, Christ, he's not going to lead you in the pathway of the rat race. He's going to lead you to lie down in green pastures and he's going to lead you beside still waters, signs of tranquility and peace.

How does he do that? Here are the five antidotes. Number one: remember my value to God. That's the starting point for getting a more sane schedule: remember my value and my worth to God. This is the exact opposite of basing your worth on your work. It's the opposite of basing your identity on your career. Now this is so counter-cultural because when you go to a meeting and somebody says, "Who are you?" one of the first things they ask you is, "What do you do?" as if what you do is your identity. And the first thing you tell them is your job. You don't tell them about who you are, you tell them about what you do.

But he says if you want to get off the rat race, remember my value to God. Okay, how valuable are you? Well, let's think about this. The Heavenly Father created you, which means God doesn't create anything without value, and God doesn't create anything without purpose, and God doesn't create anything without intention. The fact that you're alive means God loved you and wanted you alive. So the Heavenly Father created you. That's your value. You're priceless, you're a masterpiece, you're unique, nobody's ever made like you. God didn't make any clones or copies.

So the Heavenly Father created you. Jesus died for you. That shows your value. Jesus didn't die for junk. And the Holy Spirit lives in you. God puts his spirit inside you when you trust him. All three of those show incredible value, incredible worth. I want you to write this down in your outline: it's not what I do that gives me worth, but who I belong to. It's not what I do that gives me my worth because what happens if you're disabled? Then all of a sudden you have no value anymore? No. It's not what I do that gives me my worth but who I belong to.

Now for some of you, this is going to be a major change in your thinking because you grew up feeling, "I'm a nobody. I'm not priceless, I'm not a masterpiece, I'm not unique, I'm not extremely valuable." Yes you are. But growing up, somebody told you, maybe a teacher or maybe a peer or maybe even a parent, said, "You're nothing. You're nobody. You're worthless. You're never going to amount to anything." And in the back of your mind, you filed that tape and ever since then, you've been saying, "I'll show them. I'll show my mom. I'll show my dad."

And that is driving you to work, work, work, work, work. Now this isn't true of everybody, but for some of you, this is the motivation. That little voice that says, "You've got to prove you matter. You got to prove you're not normal, you're not ordinary, you're not average, you're a superstar." Maybe you were even compared to a brother or sister or you were compared to your parent, your dad or your mom. "Why can't you be like?" And that has driven you and driven you to overwork.

Years later, you still hear that inner voice. And the truth is you can't afford to take time off because you got to keep paddling. And you're paddling upstream and the stream is coming the opposite direction, and you have to prove your worth. No you don't. No you don't. You don't have to prove your worth. You're already extremely valuable. God created you, Jesus died for you, the Spirit lives in you. You're unique. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You don't need their approval to be happy. You don't need their approval to be worthwhile.

God says you're worthwhile. Jesus' death says you're worthwhile. The Spirit living in you says you're worthwhile. What in the world are you afraid of? The antidote to this building my worth on my work is to remember my value to God. You'll never be any more valuable to God than you are right now. You'll never be any less valuable to him because he made you. He's your Father. My kids are valuable to me, not because of what they do, but because I created them with my wife. And I love them, and it doesn't matter who they are, what they've done. They're my creations. You are God's creation.

James chapter one verse 18 says this is what God says about you: "God decided to give us life," that's a big deal, "through the word of truth," the Word is Christ, "so that we might be the most important of everything God has created." Do you realize you're more important than the moon? Do you realize you're more important than the Milky Way? Do you realize that in God's eyes you're more important than all of the extinct animals combined?

Did you know that in God's book you're more important than all of the rare flowers and all of the trees and all of the beauty of all the other creation? Look at that verse again. "God decided to give us life through the word of truth so that we might be the most important of everything God created." You matter more than the rest of creation. So what does it matter what somebody else says about you? If God likes you, they got a problem.

So you can relax. And one of the reasons you don't have to work is you don't have to prove yourself. I'm a daughter of God. I'm a son of God. I'm a child of God. He made me. He wanted me. He loves me. He created me. And he made me just the way he made me to be, and I don't have to be somebody else. I remember my value to God.

Isaiah 48 verse 16, God says, "I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Now we've talked about this cherished verse many times. When Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross and those nails went through his hands, God permanently showed how much you mattered to him. When you get to heaven, the only person in heaven who's going to have scars is Jesus Christ. So for the rest of your life, you will be able to see in eternity how much you matter to God. I love you this much. You matter to me. I have engraved you on the palms of my hand. That's how valuable you are. God has a tattoo of you.

When people fall in love, sometimes they'll get a tattoo of their lover, their girlfriend or their husband, their wife. God has a permanent tattoo of you. "I've engraved you on the palms of my hands." Why in the world are you trying to prove your worth through your work? You're already infinitely valuable according to the cross. And at the cross he says, "This is how much you matter." I want everybody right now to just close your eyes. Just close your eyes for a minute and think inside yourself and take a deep breath and just say, "Father, help me to feel loved by you."

Just say that: "Father, help me to feel your love." And then say, "Jesus, help me to feel how valuable I am to you." And then say, "Spirit of God, help me to feel how important I am to you." Amen. All right. So the antidote to looking for the work as your worth is to just realize how worthwhile you are to God. Are you broken? Yes. Are you a sinner? Yes, so am I. Are you perfect? Absolutely not. Are you deeply loved by God? Yes. Are you flawed? Yes, but are you infinite value? Yes, also. I've engraved you on the palms of my hand. Why are you trying to feel your worth through your work? You don't need to.

Number two: the second step, and this is the antidote to materialism, which is always wanting more and more, and it's this: enjoy what I already have. If you'll learn to enjoy what you've already got, then you can get off the rat race. Now this is called being content. Contentment does not come naturally to human beings. You are not by nature a contented person. By nature, we are discontented. By nature, we are not resting sheep; we are restless sheep. And by nature, we are discontented. We always want more. We always want something different.

And yet it can be learned. In Philippians 4, up here on the screen verse 12 and 13, Paul says, "I've learned," notice contentment is something you learn, you can be educated in it. "I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether I'm well-fed or hungry, whether I'm living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him," that's Christ, "who gives me strength."

So learning contentment means I don't have to have this incessant grabbing for more, grabbing for more, grabbing for more. Can we become so preoccupied in getting more we don't enjoy what we have? Yes, of course. You know it's amazing in Southern California, you go down to the beach or just any place, and you find these amazing homes, over-the-top beautiful homes everywhere. But the people are never around to enjoy them because they're always at work. Because somebody's got to make the payments on those massive house mortgages.

It's what I call the Saddleback Syndrome, and I've watched it for over 30 years. And what it is is we get extended with the desire to acquire. I gotta have that, I gotta have that, I gotta have that. And the desire to acquire pushes you to buy something you really can't afford, particularly a mortgage that's over your head. And then you get overextended financially, and then you have to constantly hustle to make ends meet because you're overextended financially. And soon, because you're overextended financially, your relationships start to deteriorate.

And then you don't really even have a reason for that fancy home. The Bible says this: Ecclesiastes 4:6, up here on the screen: "A little food eaten in peace is far better than having twice as much earned from overwork and chasing the wind." You know, it's better to have a little in peace. The greatest things in life aren't things.

I couldn't count the number of deathbeds that I've stood by where people took their last breath. And in all the years that I've been a pastor, I've never had anybody say, in their dying breath, "Man, I wish I'd spent more time at the office." I've never heard that one. "Man, I wish I'd spent more time at work." And I've never actually had anybody ask for a particular object or thing that they loved, valued, or worshipped. "Please, bring me my bowling trophy. I want to see it one more time. Please, bring me my degree from community college. Please, bring me... I want to see my coin collection."

Nobody's ever said that in their dying moments. Nobody ever asks for things in the final moments of their lives. They always ask for people. Because eventually, everybody learns that it's all about relationships. I just hope we learn it before the deathbed. You're going to learn this one day when you're dying. You're not going to ask for any, "Show me my car one more time. Show me my fancy television screen or my home." You're not going to ask for it. At the very last moment of your life, you're going to realize it's all about people you love, loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Can we not learn that sooner? It'd sure relieve an awful lot of stress. It would sure make life more fulfilling. It's not about achievements. It's not about accomplishments. It's about relationships. And you know, I've said this many times: you're not going to take anything with you. You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. If you laughed at that, okay, they laughed at. How many times have you heard me say that? Thousands, thousands of times. That's what I thought. You're never going to see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. You're not taking it with you.

You know, it's so funny. In America, it's considered a tragedy to, quote, "die penniless." "Oh, she died penniless." What a better time to go? I mean, really. The moment you spend your last cent, boom, I'm out of here. I call that wise, not stupid. I'm out of money, let's go. That's just brilliant living if you ask me.

And then it still irks me. You can still see those bumper stickers around. "He who dies with the most toys wins." Are you kidding me? We need the bumper sticker: "He who dies with the most toys still dies." And he didn't win anything. In all likelihood, he probably lost a lot of relationships building up those toys. Ecclesiastes 3:13 says this: "All of us should enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift." God says enjoy what you've got while you got it. Enjoy what you have while you've got it.

Look at this verse up here on the screen: Matthew 6:31. I love this in the Message paraphrase. Jesus says, "You know what I'm trying to do here is get you to relax. To not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving." Did you realize that relaxation is a spiritual issue? That resting is a part of trusting? Resting is a part of trusting. Resting is the way to blessing.

Guest (Male): What a great message from Pastor Rick today. There's something I always take away from his message. Here's Rick to tell you how you can help support this ministry.

Pastor Rick Warren: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives according to five specific purposes. He said, "You've got to love God with all your heart," that's worship, "and love your neighbor as yourself," that's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment. And then Jesus said, "Go make disciples," that's evangelism, "baptizing them into the family of God," that's fellowship, a sign of fellowship, and then he said, "Teach them to obey everything I've taught you," that's discipleship. And we call that the Great Commission.

We believe at Daily Hope that a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company, a great community. You know, I started Daily Hope so I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just across America, but all around the world. And we want people to know that God's word is filled with hope and truth, and the power that we need to follow him every day is available to every single one.

You know as well as I do that the word of God changes lives. It's alive, it's active, and it breathes new life and new love into all of our lives. So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or whether you listen through a podcast, you're a part of the Daily Hope family. And I need your help. We could not do this without your support. We're 100% listener-funded. Would you continue to pray for this broadcast and would you continue to support us? And write to me. Let me hear from you. I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me. So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry. And God will bless it and God will bless you, and we'll get to heaven and we'll thank God for all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.

Guest (Male): Hey, if you'd like to support Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, just go to PastorRick.com. That's PastorRick.com. Or you can text the word Hope to 70309. That's the word Hope to 70309. And really, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of Christ with people everywhere. Hey, be sure to join us next time when 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.