Pastor Rick Warren (0:02)

Hey, everyone. It's so great to have you with us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are going to continue our very encouraging series today called Life's Healing Choices. And in these lessons, Rick Warren will guide us through a deep biblical exploration of how to overcome the hurts, hangups, and habits that really hold us back. So get ready for some practical insights and powerful truths that can lead to lasting change and freedom in your life. And now here's Rick with the final part of a message called the Sharing Choice.

Rick Warren (0:39)

Now, God says, I want to work all these things for good in your life. One of the great examples of this is the line of Jesus Christ in the Bible. You know, when you read the Bible, probably the most boring part of the Bible are the genealogy list. Have you ever read those things? Man, that'll put you to sleep. It's a great cure for insomnia. Okay. If you're having a hard time going to sleep, just open the Bible and find one of those passages where it gives the list of the genealogies. Start reading that. You'll go to sleep real quick. Okay? It's about the most boring, dry stuff. This guy's father was this, and his son was this, and his son was this, and his son was this. And you're going, what does this mean? Well, there's actually significance for this because one of the proofs that Jesus was the Messiah was, was that he would come through the genealogy, through the line of King David. And so those genealogies were important in tracing. It's just one of the many, many proofs of who the Messiah would be. But it's an interesting thing. In the genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Bible, it is the only genealogy that has women listed in it. You see, in Hebrew culture, in Jewish culture, in fact, in almost every culture, genealogical lines are traced to the father. And so they say, this guy's son was this person, and his son was this person, and his son was this person his son. And women in ancient genealogies were never mentioned, which makes Jesus genealogy so unique, because four women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the line of heritage. It's very significant. And when you look at those stories, every one of those four women had a very painful story to tell. The four women in Jesus genealogies are a woman named Tamar in the Old Testament, a woman named Rahab, a woman named Ruth, and a woman named Bathsheba. These are the four women that are mentioned in the line of the Messiah, of the Savior of the world. Every one of these Women had a hurt hangup and habit. Tamar was a mess. She was seduced by a relative. She had two different husbands and they were both total jerks. If you go back and read the story of Tamar, it's quite explicit. It's a highly sexual scandal in this woman's life. She was not well reputation because of what happened in her life. Big sexual scandal in Tamar's life. Rahab, by the way, was a prostitute, but she did the right thing in helping some godly men and she's in the list. Rahab, Ruth wasn't even Jewish. She was a Moabite who illegally married a Jewish man because the Jews were forbidden to marry non Jews. So her marriage wasn't even legally recognized because she married and broke the Jewish law by marrying a Jewish man. She wasn't even Jewish herself. Bathsheba had an affair with King David and he had her husband murdered. Not exactly stellar stories. The point is, God chose those four women to be mothers in the line that would deliver us. The savior of the world. God weaves even our mistakes and even our disappointments and even our hurts and even our sins into his plan. Now, as your pastor who loves you, I want you to follow me on this for a minute. I want you to think of the biggest mistake in your life right now that you've ever committed. Think of the biggest mistake. Think of the biggest disappointment in your life that you've experienced. Think of the biggest sin that you have committed in your life that you're most ashamed of. Think of the biggest hurt in your life. And realize this, that even before you were born, God already knew those things were gonna happen in your life. And he developed a plan in advance that would bring good out of that. What a God. What a God. What a God who would already know in advance my rebellion, my sin, my stupidity, my mistakes and the mistakes of other people and the sins that were done against me and the sins that were done by me. And God says, you know what? I know it even before it's gonna happen. So I'm gonna develop a plan and into the plan and bring good out of it. What a God. That is the kind of God we worship. And that's why we can be optimistic and realistic at the same time. As followers of Jesus Christ. We don't deny our mistakes. We don't hide them in the closet. We don't pretend it didn't happen. We don't pretend we never screwed up. We don't pretend other people didn't hurt us. We're open about Our feelings and our faults and our failures and our frustrations and our fears, we just go. We're trophies of grace. That in spite of all that, God still loves me. And God does not have a plan B for your life. You're not on plan B. You're still on plan A. And part of it was for you to be here today. One of God's favorite guys in the Bible is a guy named Joseph. Poor Joseph was set up for failure. He was number 11 of 12 children, and they were all boys, 12 brothers. And out of those 12, his father Jacob, who we looked at last week or a couple weeks ago, really messed it up as a parent. And he chose Joseph to be the daddy's boy. And he set him up for all kinds of envy and resentment by the other brothers because Joseph was the favorite. His daddy gave him a special coat. His daddy gave him special preference. His daddy treated him better than the other kids. And the brothers hated Joseph because of what their dad did. And one day they just said, we gotta get rid of this guy. And so the 11 brothers faked Joseph's death and sold him to slave traders to take him to Egypt. And they said, finish with that. They sold their brother. They hated him so much. Joseph is sold into slavery to never be heard from again. In Egypt, he's bought as a slave by a man named Potiphar. And he just says, okay, I'm gonna still love God. I'm gonna still do the right thing. Things aren't going out the way I planned, but I'm gonna serve God. And Joseph's boss, Potiphar, has a wife. And his wife comes on to Joseph. She's attracted to Joseph, and she says, come sleep with me. And she tries to seduce him. And Joseph says, wait a minute. I'm a man of integrity. I'm not gonna disobey God, and I'm not gonna offend my master. I'm not gonna sleep with you. And she tries to get him. She tries to seduce him. And finally she grabs him and she grabs his coat, and he lets go and he runs out and leaves the coat behind. Now she's the woman scorned, and she falsely accuses him of. Of rape. And Joseph is put in an Egyptian prison to rot for life. And the first 40 years of his life are all downhill. Now he's sitting in this prison. Would you think at that point God loved you? Would you think God knew what he was doing? Would you think God had a plan and a purpose for your life if you were Joseph? At that point and everything has gone wrong for 40 years in his life. But God had him exactly where he wanted him. And in that prison, another man who's a prisoner is a baker who had been the baker of the Pharaoh. And through a series of circumstances, steps out. Joseph's life begins to turn around. And he ends up becoming the number one assistant to Pharaoh, the second most powerful man in the world of the most powerful emperor at that time. And through his wisdom, he saves the entire Middle east from famine. And he's a hero. And one day, his brothers, who were dying of starvation because of famine, come to Egypt to get the grain, because Egypt's the only one who saved the grain. And when they realized that the guy who's in charge of distributing the grain is the brother they betrayed, they think we're dead, we're goners, it's curtains for us. And Joseph, when he sees them without any remorse, without any regret, without any resentment and without any bitterness, he says this there on your outline, Genesis 50:20. He says to his brothers, they intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good. Friends, there are people in your life who have intended to hurt you. And they meant to hurt you. They intentionally meant to hurt you physically, emotionally, sexually, verbally. There have been parents and partners and peers and professionals and kids on the playground. And all your life, there are people intended to hurt you. And they meant it for bad, but God intended it for good. It is the grace of God that gets my attention through pain. It is the grace of God that helps me learn things in the pain. And it is the grace of God that brings good out of bad. There's one other thing God wants you to share. If you're going to get to the final stage of recovery. God says he wants you to share with others how Jesus gives me hope. I can tell you this. This next week, as you go out and you meet people, the grocery store in your driveway, post office stores, work. Everybody you see this week has a hidden hurt. Everybody. Everybody you see this week has a hidden pain. Everybody and everybody you meet this week needs massive doses of hope. And when you share hope, you will have a willing audience. So many people feel hopeless today. As a pastor, I talk to them all the time. My life is out of control. I can't seem to change. Nothing seems to work. Life has kicked the hope out of me. I feel trapped. I'm trapped in a hopeless marriage. I'm trapped in a hopeless career. I'm trapped in a hopeless crisis. I'm trapped in a hopeless addiction. I'm Trapped in hopeless health issue. Everybody needs hope to cope. Now, the best hope that helps us is the hope from somebody who says, been there, done that. Talked to a guy just last night who had been a heroin addict. And God helped him out of that. And now he knows a young boy who's involved in heroin. And he says, I sat him down and said, let me just take you through the facts of life. Been there, done that. And here's what's going to happen, and here's what you're going to end up as. And here's how you need to change. You see, that's how God wants to use you. God wants you to be a hope dispenser. God wants you to be a hope pusher. He wants you to promote hope everywhere you go. It is the core message of Saddleback. In fact, look at this last verse on your outline. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. You know what I'm doing today, friends? I'm teaching you how to witness. Yeah. Jesus said, you will be my witnesses. Now, most people got that all wrong. And they're scared to death to be a witness. Cause they think witnesses means I gotta go explain why Jesus died on the cross. I've gotta go, quote, memorize scripture verses. I've got to know all this theology and all this doctrine. You don't have to know a single Bible verse to be a witness. Do you know the difference between a witness and an attorney? Just go watch an old issue of Perry Mason. Okay? It is the job of the attorney to press the case, to show the evidence and to ask for a decision. That's the job of an attorney. Not once in scripture does Jesus say, you will be my attorney. It's not your job to convince people to accept Christ. That's the Holy Spirit's job. You're not to be an attorney. But you are called and commanded by God if you're gonna be his child, to be a witness. What does a witness do? Just say, that's what I saw. I saw the blue car run into the red car. Are you an expert on cars? No. Do you know anything else? No. I just saw the blue car hit the red car. Thank you. You're dismissed. That's called witnessing. And what does God want you to be as a witness this week to the unbelievers in your life and in your work and in your school and all around. He wants you to say, when they're going through pain, you know, pain. Really got my Attention. Let me tell you that. And let me tell you what I learned. I learned, man, I need people in my life when I'm going through pain. And I learned that God is, you know, you don't know God's all you need till God's all you got. And I learned that God's gonna hang with me no matter what. And you share the lessons. What has God taught you? And you say, you know, let me tell you about a time that something bad happened to me, but I can now see God brought good out of it. There's a word for that. Witnessing. That's what God commands you to do, to tell your story. How did you have hope in a hopeless situation? And you pass it on. That's what God wants you to do. Now, some of you have been going through some really difficult times, and you've been scared to death to start this journey of recovery because of what it might unveil or reveal about you. And now we're in the last session of it. But these eight choices don't end with this series. They are choices you will have to make every day for the rest of your life. Recovery is an ongoing process. And maybe what you need to do is show up Friday night and go through recovery for a while. Go walk through the steps and get some help. So a year from the day you're healed and you're not continuing to be hassled by that hurt from the past, that hangup and that memory, and you get it over with and say, I'm giving it up. I'm not gonna hate anymore. I'm not gonna hold on and I'm not gonna feel guilty anymore. And you get rid of it. Let's bow our heads. As we close, I wanna ask you some personal questions. Has God been trying to get your attention through pain? Is he saying hello? Are you learning anything from your mistakes? Are you learning to depend on God? Are you learning to obey his word? Are you learning that you need other people in your life? Question number three. Will you trust God to bring good out of the bad that's going on in your life? Will you trust him to do that? Are you saying, I want it my way? Are you saying, I want it your way, God? Are you trusting in your own power? Are you trusting in God's power to make the changes you want to see? And here's the big one, the sharing choice. Will you allow God to use your mistakes to help other people? This week, you didn't get into the mess you're in overnight. You're not gonna get out of it overnight. That's why these 8 Life's Healing Choices are an ongoing process. But let's pray this prayer together in your mind. Say, God, thank you for loving me enough to get my attention. I ask you to bring good out of the bad in my life. Help me to learn the lessons I need to learn. I want to learn to be totally dependent upon you. I want to learn to follow your word. I want to learn to become all you made me to be. And I want you to use me to help others. Please give me hope when I feel hopeless and give me the power I need to change. I'm willing to follow your steps of recovery from here on out. And I ask you to help me to be more honest than I've ever been with you and with myself and with others about my faults and my fears, my frustrations, my feelings and my failures. Use me to encourage other people. Thank you that you'll always be with me. If you've never opened your life to Jesus Christ, say, Jesus Christ, come into my life right now and take over every area of my mind and heart. I want to follow you and trust you. In your name I pray. Amen.