Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Announcer: 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.

Announcer: Okay, and now here's part two of a message called Is God Really Good All the Time?

Pastor Rick Warren: How does God grow faith and trust in your life? The exact same way a child learns to trust a parent. It's the exact same process.

There's a very famous circle called the Circle of Security, on how children learn to trust their parents. You had to go through this circle thousands and probably tens of thousands of times growing up. Let me show it to you. The Circle of Security, this is how parents teach their children to trust them.

First is the child recognizes an unmet need. I'm at the bottom of the stairs, I got to get to the top, I can't get there. I need help. So the child, step one, recognizes an unmet need. Step two is the child expresses that need, usually by crying or yelling.

They don't have words yet, but they let you know that my diaper is soiled, or I'm hungry, or I'm bored in the crib and I can't get out. They let you know they have a need and step two, they express a need. Step three is the parent meets that need. They pull you out of the crib, they change your diaper, they feed you. They soothe you. They do whatever you need because your need is not being met and the parent meets the need.

The result of the parent meeting the need is number four, is that the child learns to trust the parent. Now that circle right there, you personally went through that circle maybe 100,000 times growing up. And you figured out, when I cry, I get mom's attention, or dad's attention.

When I complain about a need, it gets met. And every time that need was met in your life, you learned to trust your mom or your dad, or whoever, more. Now that cycle is the exact same way God teaches you to trust him. You have an unmet need in your life.

You express that unmet need to God. God meets that need and you learn to trust him more. And you do it again, and again, and again. If you're not expressing your needs to God, you're not growing in trust because that's the only way you learn.

The reason I can trust God the way I do today is because he's met millions of needs in my life when I've asked. And I know he's reliable. He can be counted on. And so if you're not praying prayers of request, this is why God says, I want you to ask because he knows it's the way you learn to trust him. It's the exact same way God teaches you.

So if you're not asking God to meet your needs through prayer, you're not growing, and you're not learning to trust him. So how long has it been since you said something like this to God? God, I know you're a good God. God, I know you want to meet my needs. You've told me over and over to meet my needs. Well, here's one.

And you tell him about your upset stomach, or anything. There's nothing too big or too small. It's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about. And worry won't solve it, but prayer will. And you ask God, and then you wait patiently for God's timing to deliver it. God rarely gives you the answer immediately.

Rarely, because he wants to test your faith. God is not a vending machine where you put in a prayer, you pull the plug, and you instantly get it. If God gave you everything instantly, you'd be incredibly self-centered, incredibly selfish.

And so God wants to give it to you, but he's going to wait a while while you are learning to grow, you're learning to trust him. You see, every child has to learn the difference between no and not yet. They're not the same thing. Immaturity means when I tell you, can we go to Disneyland? Yes, but not yet. And you get mad.

It didn't mean no. A delay is not a denial. That's maturity when you understand the difference between a delay and a denial. And so God won't always give it to you immediately, he wants you to wait. Now here's what Jesus said, Luke chapter 11.

If you, as imperfect parents, know how to give good gifts, there's that word good again, the goodness of God. If you, as imperfect parents, know how to give good gifts to your own children, how much more will your heavenly Father, who by the way is perfect, will give good gifts to those who ask him? You have not because you ask not.

I'm embarrassed to tell you this story, but I'm going to tell it to you anyway because it makes a good point, that even pastors often forget the goodness of God and don't ask. A week ago on a Friday, I lost my cell phone.

Now, that's extremely important to me because I get hundreds of emails a day and also text messages. And every day that I don't have it, those things are piling up, and go, hey, Rick must not care about me. And you know, they're thinking all kinds of bad thoughts. And so when I lost it, that was the day that I came down with kind of a stomach flu, which is why Pastor Tom spoke last weekend for me.

By the way, didn't he do an incredible job? Man, thank you, Tom. That was a great message. I was sitting at home in bed taking notes and thinking, now three years from today, I'm going to preach that and they'll think I taught it. It was a great message.

And I, so I was sick, so I didn't look for it Saturday or Sunday. On Monday, I was feeling a little bit better. So I got up. I tore the house apart. I mean, I literally spent hours pulling up every cushion on sofas and looking behind this and that. I literally spent several hours trying to find my phone. I could not find it.

So I go out to my car. I tear my car apart. I mean, it's like I got a magnifying glass looking for it. I cannot find my phone. The next day, I was feeling a little bit better. I went into the office and I looked, tore the office apart looking for it everywhere. I had staff members looking for my phone trying to find it.

On Wednesday, I went and I tore it all up again. I went through the house. I thought, maybe I just missed it. And so I did it again in my house, in my car, in my office, and I could not find it. So on Thursday I go, I can't go without a phone. I've got all these messages coming in.

So my son, Josh, loaned me a phone he wasn't using, and I went and I got it turned on so I could at least, you know, communicate to people. I did that in the evening, about 8 p.m. that evening. Well, Kay was gone all this last week. She was speaking in Washington, D.C. She spoke to a congressional committee on mental health, and she spoke to the presidents of all the Christian universities and their wives.

She had a number of speaking engagements in D.C. So she was gone for five days. When Kay's not home, I stay up all night, and I just study. And so every night I was going, getting by on like two hours of sleep. And Thursday night, about 4 o'clock in the morning, I had gone down to get something to eat.

I was going back up to study some more. As I'm walking back upstairs, I was thinking about this message, about the goodness of God and how God says, the way I prove my goodness is for you to ask. And all of a sudden, the Lord just said to me, Rick, have you considered asking me where the phone is?

I went, oh no. I had not even prayed about this thing. I hadn't even prayed about it. So I said, God, I am so sorry. You are a good God. And I need to repent. You know, God, I know you're a good God, so show me where that phone is.

Now, I said, now, Lord, I'm going to get ready to go to bed here in about, you know, 15 minutes. And if you want to reveal it to me in a dream, then I'll wake up and I'll know where it is. You know, often times, you know, we don't want to just ask God. We want to give him the way to deliver it. God says, look, Rick, you don't have to tell me how to deliver it. I'll figure this out.

You don't need to recommend, you know, where. Just trust me. So I said, Lord, this is not a big deal in the grand scope of things. This is just a phone. But you're a good God. And this is something that means a lot to me. So I'm asking you because you're a good God to show me where that phone is because I can't find it.

And I said, now, Lord, you know me. It's not going to shake my faith if you don't answer. Some prayers get answered some the way we want, some of them don't. I don't know why. When we get to heaven, we'll understand it all. I just know God has said to ask. So I said, Lord, if you choose not to reveal this to me, that, you know, that's not going to shake my faith one bit.

I know you're a good God, but because you're a good God, I really would like to know where that is. So I went upstairs, and I saw some dirty dishes in my study. And I thought, I should take those down and wash them, get it all cleaned up before Kay gets back.

And as I was walking back down, all of a sudden, I got an inkling to play the piano at 4 o'clock in the morning. I thought, you know, I'd like to sit down and just play the piano. It might relax me a little bit. So Kay has this beautiful piano. I sat down, I started playing, I started playing a little tune there. And I thought, hey, that's pretty good.

I should record that and give it to John and Stephanie and our worship team because maybe they could put some words to it. And so I often will get a phone and then I'll turn the recorder on and record that little thing and then send it to them. But my the phone that Josh had loaned me is upstairs. So I was getting ready to get up and go upstairs.

And as I got up, I looked over and right next to the metronome on the piano on that black piano was a black phone. Now, this is less than five minutes after I'd prayed that prayer. Five minutes. This happened. I started laughing and crying at the same time. You are too good, man. You are. And I'm laughing, and I'm crying.

And I'm going, God, you just showed me your goodness one more time. God did in five minutes what I couldn't do in five days. You have not because you ask not. And the reason you're not asking is, you don't really think God's that good.

You don't think he's interested in the details of your life. But the Bible says he has every hair on your head numbered, and he knows how many fell out in the sink this morning. God knows the details of your life better than you do. Did God know where my phone was? Yes. Who put it in my mind to go over and sit down and play the piano?

God did. God did. And so we miss out on so much. Now you say, well, I don't really want to bother God. You're not bothering God. He's the one who set this thing up. He knows you're going to trust him more. When you ask, he meets the need, and then you trust him more.

Here's what the Bible says, Hebrews chapter 4. Let us come boldly to the throne of our good and gracious God. Boldly. God is good, God is gracious, so we can come boldly. Then we will receive his mercy and will find the grace to help us when we need it.

Now what's God's motivation in answering your prayers? Well, David tells us the next verse, Psalm 66. Answer me, oh Lord, out of the goodness of your love. Everything God does for you, through you, to you, and in you, he does because he is a good God.

God's goodness to you, listen, is not based on your goodness. It's based on his goodness. God's goodness to you isn't based on how good you are. God is good to bad people. They get to breathe the same air we do. They get to live. They get to ignore God, but he's still good to them.

God's goodness isn't based on your goodness. You think, well, I got to be better then God will answer my prayer. No, God's goodness is based on his goodness. Now there's a third negative consequence that happens when you forget how good God really is, and it's this.

I stop trusting God in difficult times. You see, if you were more aware of how good God really is, this would be automatic to you. Every time you had a need, you'd automatically talk to God about it. It'd be natural. You wouldn't try to solve it yourself first. You'd go to God first.

You'd ask God for, God, I need some help here. I need a job. I need this, I need that. Whatever it is. And you just go to God instantly. It'd be your first choice, not your last resort. Look at these verses, Psalm 16:1-2. Protect me, God, because I trust in you. You are my Lord and every good thing I have comes from you.

Don't ever forget that. Romans 5:8, Paul says, you know, we can have joy even in our troubles. Even when things are going wrong, we can have joy in our troubles. Why? Because we know that these troubles are good for us, producing patience and character and hope.

Even in the bad times, God is good. Even in the bad times, God has a good purpose, has a good plan, has a good reason. And so even in the difficult times, I go, God, you're a good God because I know you're going to use this to produce character and patience and hope in my life. And in Romans 8:28, And we know that in everything, not some things, not not not the good things.

We know that in everything, God works for the good. Circle that for the good. Not for the bad. For the good of those who love him and are called according to his good purpose. So even when times are tough, I know God's good, and I know he has a good purpose, a good plan, and he's working it all out for good.

Not everything that happens in your life is good. There's a lot of bad. But God can take even the bad and bring good out of it. And that builds trust in him. Now there's one other negative consequence when you forget how good God really is to you. And you just forget it.

You start claiming credit for things that God did that you didn't do, he did it through you. You stop asking God for help. You stop trusting God in difficult times. And the fourth thing that happens when you forget God's goodness, I do it, you do it, is I become pessimistic about the future.

When you forget how good God really is, you become pessimistic about the future. You lose hope because hope is based on the goodness of God. If God isn't good, there is no hope. David tells us this in Psalm 27, the connection between hope and the goodness of God.

And in verse 13 and 14, he says this: I would have despaired. So I would have been desperate. I would have been in total despair unless I had believed that I'd see the goodness, there it is, the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He says, man, there would be no hope if I didn't, if God was not a good God.

We're up a creek without a paddle. I would have been in despair. But he did know that God was a good God. So he says, instead, instead I thought, wait for the Lord. I don't see the answer right now. I'm going to wait for the Lord. Be strong, let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.

He says, don't get in a hurry. God is a good God. You've made the request. Now wait. Do you ever do this? Or do you get in so much of a hurry, you don't have time for God to give you the answer? When there's something you want to buy and it's really important, do you give God an opportunity to give it to you first?

No, I don't even think about that. I go out and put it on my credit card. I buy something I want with money I don't have. And then you're in debt. Have you ever on like a big purchase said, Lord, before I buy this, I'm going to give you a chance to give it to me. Do you want to give this to me?

I tell you, that happens. I've had it happen many times in my life. When you get in a hurry, God, I really want to get married, but I'm not going to wait on you to provide the person. I'm going to go out and find the nearest beating heart. And then you regret that one the rest of your life.

Because you got in a hurry. You did not wait. You did not trust the goodness of God. Most of your problems in life come from your inability to delay gratification. I want it and I want it right now. That's called being immature. That's what babies say. I want it now. Not later, I want it now. That's immaturity.

And so I become pessimistic about the future. He says, I would have despaired. Now listen. If you are fighting depression these days. If you are fighting discouragement these days. If you're fighting doubt these days.

If you're fighting despair, let me tell you to do two things. Number one, start focusing on all the ways that God has been good to you. Get your eyes off the problems and get your eyes on all the things God has done for you. Make a list. Count your blessings. Write them down.

Make a list of all the ways God is good in your life and focus on that. And number two, don't miss any of the next nine weeks in this series.

Announcer: Wow, some powerful words from Pastor Rick today. And now this is really one of my favorite parts of the broadcast. This is letters from our listeners. And now here's Rick.

Pastor Rick Warren: Hi everybody. Today I want to share a very powerful letter from a listener named Michael. Michael experienced terrible trauma as a child, but he says that Daily Hope is helping him overcome his past and now he's looking to the future with his kids. Let me read you just a little bit of Michael's story.

Dear Pastor Rick, you and Daily Hope have brought God into my life and it has saved me. I am a 29-year-old father of five children, and I try my hardest to teach my children to know God and to love Jesus and how to pray, and I do my best to be a good example and be worthy of all the good gifts that God has given to me.

But, you know, because of my childhood and the insecurities and abandonment issues that were created in my life from years of mental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and yes, even sexual abuse, I've always had a hard time trusting God. I woke up every day feeling unworthy, and I suffered from feelings of anxiety and depression, and I felt like God couldn't possibly love me because no one else had ever loved me.

And I carried that pain inside of me for so long, craving for a close, better, intimate relationship with God. Now, listening to Daily Hope has helped me achieve that and more. I'm not only better, but I'm now better for everybody else around me, spreading all that I've learned and the good news of Jesus Christ.

I know God better than ever, and I now have more faith than I ever knew possible because I feel his love. Thank you so much. Daily Hope does such a great work in the name of Jesus, and I will forever be in your debt for bringing the fire of faith into my heart and helping me know God.

I love you, and I hope you continue to bring change in the world through the message of Jesus Christ. You know, Michael, I absolutely love how you're teaching your five kids to know Jesus. That is a real man, a real dad, a real father. It's so important to pass it on to the next generation.

And I'm encouraged that Daily Hope is helping you with the trauma of all your past and helping you work through those issues and keeping you growing in the love of Jesus Christ. You know, stories like the one you wrote to me are what keep me going. It's why we do this, changed lives. Now, I want to pray for you.

I want to pray, dear Lord, pour out your love on Michael. Help him to sense your love so that he never doubts it. Pour out your blessing and your peace on his family. I pray that they will continue to grow in their faith, and that they will experience the peace that passes understanding as they follow you.

God, I want to thank you for his faithfulness. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Announcer: You know, if God is blessing you through Daily Hope, would you share your story with me? Write me, Rick@PastorRick.com. 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.