Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hello everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. Well, today we're continuing in this timely series called Strategies for Stressful Times. In this series, Pastor Rick shares timeless truths from God's word that will help you manage stress, overcome worry, and experience the peace and stability that only God can provide. I can't wait to get started with part one of a message called Jesus's Secrets to Resilience.

Pastor Rick Warren: This week, I want us to continue with part five of my series called Strategies for Stressful Times. Specifically, we're going to look at how Jesus personally handled stress. And I want you to see what I call Jesus's seven secrets of resilience. Now, maybe you've never thought about it, but the Bible says that we are to look to Jesus as our model for enduring tough times. The Bible says we are to look to Jesus as our model for enduring tough times. We are to follow his example of resilience, and we are to follow his example of stress management.

And the Bible says it this way. If you've got it there your notes there right at the top of your outline, Hebrews chapter 12 says this, verses 1 to 3 out of the New Living Translation. Since we are surrounded by such a crowd of witnesses to this life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance. Underline that. Run with endurance, the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus. Do you see that?

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. Jesus was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards. And now, he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Think about all he endured. That's what we're talking about this weekend, resilience. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him so that you so that you don't become weary and give up. Now, what does that verse a passage tell us?

Nobody experienced greater stress than Jesus Christ. He experienced enormous pressure. He was criticized constantly. He was misunderstood. There were constant demands on his life. He had little privacy, and there were people who were trying constantly to kill him. I doubt that's true of you, but that's stress. And yet, when we look at the life of Jesus Christ, we look at his ministry, we see that he walked and he lived with an amazing peacefulness. No matter how difficult the situation became, he modeled a calmness and a resilience in the face of outrageous demands. This is why the book of Hebrews advises us to keep our eyes on Jesus.

And that's what we're going to do today. We're going to watch his example of endurance. We're going to learn his secrets of resilience. And today, I'm going to unpack Jesus's seven secrets of resilience. You're going to need this. So I want to encourage you to take notes. Now, we learned these seven secrets of resilience from Jesus's own words. Let's get started. Uh the first secret of resilience when you're under stress is this. Write this down. Remember how much God loves me. That's the first antidote to stress. It's the first secret of resilience. It is the principle of compassion.

Jesus had no doubt in his mind that God, the Father, loved him. He talks about it over and over and over and over. Just one verse on your outline, John 10 verse 17. The Father loves me. The Father loves me. Now, knowing and remembering that God loves you unconditionally, and God loves you extravagantly, and God loves you continuously, and he will never stop loving you. That is the foundation. That's the first secret, the foundation of a resilient life. As Paul says in the book of Romans, if God's for us, who could be against us? Okay?

Who could be against us? We are resilient because we know that God will never stop loving us. Now, I know what you're thinking. They will, of course, God loves Jesus. He's his son. But did you know that Jesus said the same thing about you too? Yeah. In John 15 verse 9 and 10 says this. Jesus says, just as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now, remain in my love. And if you obey my commands, you'll remain in my love. Now, I've talked to you many, many times about how much God loves you because it is really the basis of your personal security.

If you're not convinced that God always loves you, that he loves you unconditionally, completely, instantly, continuously, that he never stops loving you, that you can't make him stop loving you, if you don't really have this foundation of God's unconditional love in your life, you're going to be easy prey for the disapproval of other people. You're going to be a people pleaser. Now, how much does God love you? Well, look there on your outline. First John 3 verse 1 says this. How great how great is the love of the Father that has he's lavished on us that we should be called the children of God.

And that is what we are. So the first key to resilience is to build the baseline that God will never stop loving me. Jesus knew it. You need to know it. Number two. The second key that we see in the life of Jesus, and you need this for your stress resistance is this. Remember who I am. Don't just remember that God loves you unconditionally. Remember who I am. This is the principle of identification. Now, why is this important? Because if you're not sure who you really are, you're going to be whipped around and manipulated and molded by the pressures and the problems and the other people around you.

When you have a confused identity, when you have an unclear identity, when you don't really know who you are, it makes you more prone to stress. Why? Because our culture will try to fit you in its mold. It's going to make you into what you want uh it wants you to be. And until you settle this issue, first, God loves me unconditionally. Second, I know who I am. I'm a child of God. You're going to be prone to stress. Now, we know that Jesus never had any doubts about his identity. He knew exactly who he was.

In fact, 18 times in scripture, he publicly defines himself 18 times. These are famous statements called the I am statements of Jesus, the I am statements of Jesus. I've listed just a few of them there on your outline. Mark chapter 14, John 8, John 14, John 6, many different places. Jesus says, I am. And then he fills it in. I am the light of the world. I am the son of God. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the bread of life. Over and over, he defines himself. He knew exactly who he was.

Why is this helpful in knowing in handling stress? Well, in John 8:18, Jesus says in other words, I testify to my own behalf. I don't need other people to tell me who I am. I know who I am. I don't depend on the opinions of others to validate myself. Do you do that? If you depend on the opinions of others to validate yourself, you are prone to stress. And you certainly aren't resilient to chronic stress. The fact is if you don't know who you are, other people will decide it for you. They'll force you into a mold.

They'll create stress. You'll end up pretending. You'll end up faking it. You'll end up wearing a mask. You'll end up trying to be a man or woman that you're not really who you are. You're who everybody else wants you to be. And that's called stress. Stress happens when you try to be something you're not. Doesn't matter if it's for the sake of your parents or the sake of your boss or the sake of your spouse or the sake of your boyfriend. Doesn't matter who you're doing it for. You're going to be pressured and you're going to be stressed and you're not going to be resilient.

Now, you say, well, of course Jesus knew he was the light of the world. Of course he knew that. But did you know that Jesus said the same thing about you? He said the exact He said, I'm the light of the world, but in Matthew 5 13 16, Jesus says this. You are the light of the world. He says, you are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world. Don't hide your light. Do you realize how special God says you are? There's nobody in the world exactly like you. When God made you, he broke the mold.

Just like God doesn't make two snowflakes same, God doesn't make clones of people. Even identical twins are different in thousands of different ways. There will never be in the history of humankind someone like you at all. You're unique. And you need to know that God loves you unconditionally and you need to know who you are. Now, identity, this issue of identity, this is the second principle, the principle of identity. When you don't know your identity, it increases your stress. And it comes out two different ways, comparing and copying, comparing copying. Comparing when you say, well, I'm going to compare myself to everybody else.

God says don't do that. And copying others, we all begin as originals, but we end up as carbon copies of other people. God does not want copies of anybody. God does not want want clones. That's why he only created one one of you. God wants you to be you. And when you get to heaven, God isn't going to say, why weren't you more like Moses? The point is you must become comfortable with being you. You must accept your strengths and you must accept your limitations and your weaknesses. You must accept the truth about you. When you do that, this second principle, the principle of I know who I am, you'll have a lot less stress.

All right? Now, here's the third secret of resilience that we learn from looking to Jesus as our model. I know that God loves me. I know who I am. Here's the third thing. Know who I'm trying to please. Know who I'm trying to please. In other words, know who you're living for. Now, this is the principle of motivation. You need to know what is your deepest motivation. If you don't know that, if you haven't figured it out, you are prone to get stressed. What motivates you every day? You see, mixed motivations are a third great cause of stress.

Jesus said no man can serve two masters. This third cause of stress is trying to please everybody. The truth is you can't. You get crowd A please, crowd B ticks off, get ticked off. By the about time you get crowd B happy, crowd A is upset again. Did you know that even God can't please everybody? Somebody's praying for terrain and somebody's praying for it to be sunny on the same day. Somebody's praying for some team to win and another's praying for another team to win or this guy to get elected and somebody else is praying for somebody else.

You know, as a pastor, I have learned that for 42 years I'm always disappointing somebody. Why? Because everybody has different expectations. Okay? They have different expectations. The Bible says the fear of man is a trap. It will capture you. It will cause you to stumble. That's why Jesus says in John 5:30, I'm not trying to do what I want, but only what my Father who sent me wants. I know who I 'm trying to please. Now, if you're not trying to please God, in all likelihood you're trying to please a bunch of people. It's a whole lot easier to say, I'm just going to focus on pleasing God and let the chips fall where they may because if you please God, it'll always be the right thing.

If you don't please God and you're trying to please others, you just get stressed out with what this person wants, that person wants. This was the third reason Jesus was so stress resistant. He was only trying to please one person. Notice there on your outline, John 8 29. I always do those things that are pleasing to him. And if you're pleasing God, it's always the right thing. It also simplifies your your life. Cuz I don't have to worry about am I pleasing everybody else. I'm just trying to please God. Jesus never let approval or, for that matter, rejection control him.

He lived for an audience of one. As I mentioned earlier, Luke 16:13, no man can serve two masters. You can't please multiple audiences. He focused only on pleasing God. Now, this is what you need to do if you want to be resistant to stress and if you want to be resilient to when you get knocked down. Galatians 1:10 Paul says, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser. This is Paul. I'm not trying to be a people pleaser. No, I'm only trying to please God. If I'm still trying to please people, he says I wouldn't be Christ's servant.

I love that in the New Living Translation. One of the biggest myths that will make you miserable is this. I must be loved by everybody in order to be happy. That's just not true. You don't need other people's approval to be happy. But let me ask you. Right now, whose approval are you depending on for your happiness? Who are you still trying to please? Somebody been trying to please an un un pleasing parent and they've been dead for a while. You know, we love to blame other people for our stress. I have to do this.

I must do this. I can't do that. You are as free as you choose to be. Nobody can pressure you without your permission. That's why the third secret of resilience is know who you're trying to please. Jesus said, I know who I 'm trying to please. I 'm only trying to please my Father. I'm not worried about anybody else. That's why we're looking at him as our model. Now, here's the fourth thing that Jesus did. Here's the fourth secret of resilience and resistance to stress. I need to not only know God loves me, I need to not only know who I'm trying to please.

I need to not only know that God has called me. That's the fourth thing. I know my calling. If you want to you want to be resistant to stress, you need to get alone with God until you know your calling. I must know exactly and believe exactly what God has called me to do with my life. Now, this is the principle of vocation, vocation. And until you clarify this and it becomes crystal clear in your mind, you're going to be more prone to getting stressed out. But when you know what God's called you to do, you know what God has called you to do, you also know what God has called you not to do.

In other words, when you're sure of your calling, you know what's your business, but you also know what's none of your business. And that simplifies life to Jesus knew exactly what he was called to do. Here's the the fourth thing. In John 8:14 he says, I know where I came from and I know where I'm going. To me, that sounds like a purpose driven life. I know where I came from and I know where I 'm going. He lived a purpose driven life.

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. Baptize them into the family of God. That's fellowship, a sign of fellowship. And then he said, teach them 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, 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 let write to me. Let 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.