How To Trust God When You Don't Like the Changes In Your Life - Part 2

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

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. So let's get to it. Here is part two of a message called How to Trust God When You Don't Like the Changes in Your Life.

Rick Warren (0:34)

Here's the fourth thing you need to remember. Write this down. God can use even human error and sin. God can use even human error and sin. I'm talking about when you are the innocent victim of somebody else's bad decision.

My family isn't what it used to be because my husband broke it up and left me, or my wife left me, whatever. God can use even human error and the sins of other people, not even just my own, for the good in my, he can bring good in my life, in his plan to grow your character and make you like Jesus. Do you remember the story of Joseph? Do you remember the story of Joseph, how his brothers were jealous, because he was the favorite son? And so his brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and he's taken to Egypt. And for the first 40 years of his life, everything goes wrong. He's falsely accused of rape. He's sold into slavery. He's thrown in jail for a crime he didn't commit. And sitting in a foreign jail, 40 years later, he's gone, nothing has gone right in my life so far. First 40 years, his whole life's downhill. But God had put Joseph exactly where he wanted him to be. And a series of God's circumstances, Joseph is raised up to become the second most powerful leader in the most powerful nation in the world at that time, which is Egypt in the age of the pyramids.

And when Joseph later, and he actually saves two countries from famine, he saves Egypt and he saves Israel from famine because of his wisdom.

But it didn't look like things were going good in his life for a long, long time. One day though, he finally has his brothers come to meet him and he confronts his brothers, the guys who had sold him into slavery in the first 40 years of nothing going right in his life. And what was Joseph's attitude? He treats them with grace, not bitterness. Why? Well, Genesis 50 tells us his perspective. That God can use even human error and sin for good. And Joseph says in Genesis 50 20, you talking to his brothers, you intended to harm me.

But God, and that's the most important thing, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Two entire nations were saved. So out of the sin of his brothers, two nations got saved from famine and destruction. You intended to harm me, but God intended for good. Friends, I'll be honest with you. There are people in your life who intend bad.

You will face people in your life, people who resent you at work, they're in competition with you, they're critical of you, they don't like you, or whatever. They intend to hurt you, they intend it for bad, but God intends it for good.

And so God can even use human error and sin in all the circumstances of life. You know, here at Saddleback, we all know the story of how God brought good, even out of Danny Duchesne's life in prison. How he went to prison for a double murder and was spending all his years in prison. He was in there nearly 30 years. But he came to know the Lord and he lived for God. And today Danny is a pastor of Saddleback and ministers to prisoners all over America.

That's grace. That's grace. And that's the kind of church we are. It doesn't matter what your background is. I don't care what you've done, how badly you've done it, or who you did it with, or how long you did it. What matters is the direction of your feet today. That's all that matters. All right? Now, here's the fifth truth that you need to remember when we're going through changes we don't like. It's unavoidable, but God uses it for good, and he wants to make me like Christ, and even he can use the bad things that other people do in my life that spread the problems to me that I didn't ask for. Number five, every change is always a test of my faith. Write that down. Every change in your life is always a test of your faith.