Rick Warren's Blog, page 163

Do Less, and Trust God More

“It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it . . . As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!”

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (The Message)

Do you need more margin in your life? One way to find it is to do less and trust God more.

Why will that help? Because God can do more in 20 minutes than you can do in 20 years.

Think about your own life. Are there goals or dreams that you’ve been striving, seeking, working, hustling, and hurrying for year after year without achieving them? Why don’t you just back off a little bit? Relax. Chill out. Trust God. Watch what he can do. If you make space in your life, you may find that he accomplishes your dreams much faster and better than you can.

The only benefit of being stretched and overloaded is that it forces you to trust God. It brings you to your knees as you realize you’re up against the wall, out of steam, and out of energy.

When the Apostle Paul was in Asia, working and serving, he experienced burnout. He was ready to throw in the towel!

He says in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9: “It was so bad, we didn’t think we were going to make it . . . As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!” (The Message)

God can do what you can’t do. Jesus did not say, “If you’re busy, you can move mountains.” He didn’t say, “If you work really hard and get really stressed out, you can move a mountain.” He said that “if you have faith,” you can move mountains (Matthew 17:20 NIV). Faith, not busyness, is what gets the job done.

So what’s your mountain? What’s the problem in your life that needs moving? Stop trying to do it all yourself! Do less, and trust God more.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

When have you been forced to trust God after realizing you were overloaded?
When have you seen faith move a mountain, either in your own life or someone else’s?
What dream or goal do you need to stop working so hard to accomplish? What would it look like for you to back off and give God room to work?

Are you ready to find rest in God?

The first step toward rest is to make peace with God by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You can start with this simple prayer:

“Dear God, I don’t want my sin to separate me from you any longer. You have promised that if I believe in Jesus, you’ll forgive me for everything I’ve ever done wrong, you’ll show me the purpose of my life, and you’ll accept me into your family and bring me to heaven one day to live with you for eternity.

“Jesus, I confess my sin, and I believe you are my Savior. I trust you when you say salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. I ask you to come into my life as my Lord. Today, I commit my life to you.

“I want to live the way you created me to live—at peace and rested—and to use the remainder of my life to serve you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

The post Do Less, and Trust God More appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

La Vida se Trata de Relaciones, no de Logros

“Lo que sí importa es que confiamos en Cristo, y que esa confianza nos hace amar a los demás”.  Gálatas 5:6 (TLA)

Aprendimos ayer que la Biblia es muy clara sobre lo que realmente importa en la vida: “es que confiamos en Cristo, y que esa confianza nos hace amar a los demás” Gálatas 5:6 (TLA).

Si no vives una vida de amor, entonces nada de lo que dices importará, nada de lo que sepas importará, nada de lo que creas importará, y nada de lo que des importará.

Finalmente, si no vives una vida de amor, nada de lo que logres importará.

La Biblia también dice en 1 Corintios 13:3: “Si diera todo lo que tengo a los pobres y hasta sacrificara mi cuerpo, podría jactarme de eso; pero si no amara a los demás, no habría logrado nada” (NTV). Puedes hacer una lista de grandes logros personales.

Puedes aparecer en la portada de la revista Fortuna. Puedes ganar el premio Nobel de la paz. Puedes tener grandes logros, ser el empresario del año, construir una empresa que valga millones de dólares, tener un increíble éxito en el área de trabajo. Pero la Biblia dice que no tiene valor si no amas. La Biblia dice —Dios dice— las relaciones son más importantes que los logros.

La vida se trata de relaciones no de logros.

Es tan simple como esto: Tu puedes tener la elocuencia de un orador, el conocimiento de un genio, la fe de un hacedor de milagros, la generosidad de un filántropo, los logros de una superestrella, pero si no tienes amor en tu corazón, no vale nada, no cuenta. Lo único que le importa a Dios es esto: ¿Amas a Dios?, y ¿Amas a otras personas?

Un día morirás, y estarás parado frente a Dios. Cuando Él evalúe tu vida, Él no mirará tu cuenta bancaria o a tu lista de logros o calificaciones. No le importará todos tus trofeos de deportes Él no mirará quién te recomienda o tu hoja de vida.

Dios evaluará tu vida bajo una regla, tus relaciones. Él te preguntará “¿Cuánto me has amado y cuánto has amado a otras personas?”. Se llama, La Gran Comisión. ¿Has amado a Dios con todo tu corazón y a tu prójimo como a ti mismo?

Por eso Pablo nos enseña que nuestra confianza en Cristo, nuestra fe debe ser expresada a través del amor (ver Gálatas 5:6).

Reflexiona sobre esto :

Si hoy mueres y estuvieras parado frente a Dios. Cómo responderías a la pregunta, ¿has amado a Dios con todo tu corazón y a tu prójimo como a ti mismo?¿Cuántas oportunidades Dios te ha dado en tu trabajo para amar a las personas que están a tu alrededor?¿Por qué crees que Dios quiere que pasemos nuestra vida aprendiendo a amarlo a Él con todo el corazón y a los demás como a nosotros mismos?Si todavía no has confiado en Jesús y no te has comprometido a seguirlo, ¿por qué esperar más? Si estás listo para cruzar esa línea y tomar la decisión de creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo; haz esta oración .Síguenos en Instagram & Facebook y comparte Esperanza Diaria con tus amigos y familiares.Recibe durante un mes un versículo de inspiración diario por WhatsAppNota: Desafortunadamente tenemos restricciones para enviar mensajes por WhatsApp a CUBA.

The post La Vida se Trata de Relaciones, no de Logros appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

You Can Accomplish More by Doing Less

“I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial.”

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)

If you want margin in your life, you must periodically prune your activities.

One of the things I do to relax is grow roses. I’ve learned that if I want to have any roses in the next season, I have to prune back my plants, usually around the third week of January. One year when I got ready to prune, there were still lots of branches with buds waiting to blossom. Do you know how difficult it was to cut off roses that hadn’t bloomed yet? It killed me to do that—but I knew I had to.

Why do gardeners prune plants? For the health of the plant and for fruitfulness in the next season. If there’s no pruning, there will be no fruitfulness in the next season.

Every year of your life, you sprout new activity branches. You’re doing some things now that you didn’t do a year ago; you’ve added those things on. But what have you cut out? What have you pruned back? You can’t just keep adding to your schedule without cutting back—without pruning your activities.

Here’s a secret I’ve learned as I’ve gardened: When you prune, you don’t just cut off deadwood; you also cut off living branches that are still productive.

It’s the same in your life. Sometimes you need to cut out some activities that are still good, that are still bearing fruit. You have to cut them off to have health and fruitfulness in a new season.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial” (NIV).

God has given you a free will. You’re permitted to do anything. You can go out and overload your schedule 10 times over, and God’s not going to stop you. But it doesn’t mean it’s the beneficial thing to do.

For most people, saying “no” is much more difficult than saying “yes.” And you want to learn to say “no” because you don’t have time, energy, effort, or even God’s blessing for every opportunity that will come your way.

Since you can’t do everything, you need to determine the right things to do. You need to ask yourself: What does God want me to do with my time and energy?

Selection is the key to an effective life. To be effective, you need to figure out what you are going to do and what you aren’t going to do. And here’s the truth: You’ll actually accomplish more in life by doing less!

The activities in your life have to be pruned periodically. And if you don’t do it yourself, God will eventually use something, such as a circumstance or crisis, to do the pruning for you—because you cannot live beyond your limits month after month, year after year. As Proverbs 20:30 says, “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways” (GNT).

Take an honest look at your life today and see what you need to prune so you can be ready for health and fruitfulness in your next season.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

How has God used a painful experience to show you that you need to cut something out of your schedule?
Why is it so difficult to admit that you have limitations? Why is it more difficult to say “no” than to say “yes” to opportunities?
What good, fruitful activities in your life do you need to prune to make room for new ones?

The post You Can Accomplish More by Doing Less appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

Nada Importa sin Amor

“Lo que sí importa es que confiamos en Cristo, y que esa confianza nos hace amar a los demás”.   Gálatas 5:6 (TLA)

¿Te has preguntado alguna vez que es lo que le importa a Dios? La Biblia nos dice en Gálatas 5:6 que, “Lo que sí importa es que confiamos en Cristo, y que esa confianza nos hace amar a los demás” (TLA). Dios dice que lo que importa en la vida no son tus logros o tus éxitos o tu fama o tu fortuna. Lo importante es la fe que se expresa por medio del amor. Si te olvidas de eso, has perdido la cosa más importante en la vida.

Durante los siguientes días, vamos a ver el capítulo más famoso en la Biblia referente al amor, 1 Corintios 13. Cuando los maestros quieren captar la atención y quieren que recuerdes algo, usan la repetición. Ellos dicen algo una y otra vez. En los primeros versículos de este pasaje, Pablo dice lo mismo de cinco formas diferentes: La cosa más importante en la vida es el amor.

Aquí te doy las primeras cuatro razones del por qué:

Si no vives una vida de amor, entonces nada de lo que digas importará.

“Si pudiera hablar todos los idiomas del mundo y de los ángeles pero no amara a los demás, yo solo sería un metal ruidoso o un címbalo que resuena“ 1 Corintios 13:1 (NTV). Estamos realmente impresionados por los grandes oradores. Nos gusta la elocuencia y el carisma. Pero Dios dice, “No me importa lo bueno que seas como comunicador. ¿Estás viviendo una vida de amor?” Si no lo estás, entonces nada de lo que digas importará. Las palabras sin amor son sólo ruido.

Si no vives una vida de amor, nada de lo que sepas importará.

“Si tuviera el don de profecía y entendiera todos los planes secretos de Dios y contara con todo el conocimiento” 1 Corintios 13:2a (NTV). Vivimos en un mundo donde el conocimiento está explotando. Somos más inteligentes que nunca. Pero seguimos teniendo los mismos problemas: crimen, abuso, prejuicios, violencia. ¿Por qué? Porque el mundo no necesita más conocimiento. Necesita más amor. Puede que seas un genio. Pero Dios dice que si no tienes amor en tu vida, todo lo que sabes no vale nada.

Si no vives una vida de amor, nada de lo que creas importará.

La Biblia dice: “y si tuviera una fe que me hiciera capaz de mover montañas, pero no amara a otros, yo no sería nada” 1 Corintios 13:2b (NTV). Hay un mito que dice que ser un seguidor de Cristo es sólo una cuestión de creer en ciertas verdades. ¡Nada puede estar más lejos de la verdad! Seguir a Cristo es vivir una vida de amor. Se necesita algo más que la creencia para complacer a Dios.

Si no vives una vida de amor, nada de lo que des importará.

El siguiente versículo dice: “Si diera todo lo que tengo a los pobres y hasta sacrificara mi cuerpo, podría jactarme de eso; pero si no amara a los demás, no habría logrado nada” 1 Corintios 13:3 (NTV). El amor no siempre es la motivación para dar. Algunas personas dan sólo para recuperar o para no sentir culpa, o por control o prestigio. Puedes dar por muchos motivos equivocados, pero la Biblia dice que si no lo haces por amor, nada de lo que des cuenta.

La Biblia es muy clara sobre que sucede cuando no vives una vida de amor. Mañana veremos las últimas razones del por qué necesitas enfocarte en tu fe que hace que ames a otros.

Reflexiona sobre esto:

¿Qué te motiva a dar?Si un amigo te describiera, ¿Qué diría sobre como demuestras tu amor a otros?La Biblia dice, “Lo que sí importa es que confiamos en Cristo, y que esa confianza nos hace amar a los demás” Gálatas 5:6 (NTV). ¿Qué crees que significa esto?Si todavía no has confiado en Jesús y no te has comprometido a seguirlo, ¿por qué esperar más? Si estás listo para cruzar esa línea y tomar la decisión de creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo; haz esta oración .Síguenos en Instagram & Facebook y comparte Esperanza Diaria con tus amigos y familiares.Recibe durante un mes un versículo de inspiración diario por WhatsAppNota: Desafortunadamente tenemos restricciones para enviar mensajes por WhatsApp a CUBA.

The post Nada Importa sin Amor appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

Margin Helps You Plan for Problems

“A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

Proverbs 22:3 (TLB)

You need margin in your life because it’s inevitable that you’re going to have problems—and margin gives you the space you need to address them.

Plans are good. The Bible says you ought to plan; planning helps lead you in the right direction. But nothing ever goes as perfectly as you’ve planned, so when you don’t prepare for bumps in the road, you’re setting yourself up for big disappointment.

A number of years ago, I convinced my wife to go on a vacation without any planning. At the time, my entire life was planned. Almost every minute of every day had something planned in it, and I had no margin. I felt like I needed a vacation from planning.

So I suggested, “Let’s just put the kids in the car and head off! It’ll be an adventure!”

It sounded like a really good idea. We put the kids in our van, and we headed out across the desert with no idea where we were going. Kay calls this our pinball vacation.

The first night we arrived in Durango, Colorado, and slept in the car because there were no motels open in the whole city.

The second night, we got to Denver, and there wasn’t a single motel room open there either. How was I to know the annual rodeo was in town? Hotels had been booked up for weeks. So we got back in the car again.

On the third night, the place we stayed was actually a collection of battered trailers that were managed from a nearby gas station. The battered, beaten-down trailer we stayed in hadn’t been cared for or cleaned. The screen door was hanging on one hinge, mosquitoes were flying in through the punched-out screen, and little roaches were crawling across the ceiling.

The trip went like this through to the last night—when we sat in a loud, smoky lounge in Las Vegas at 1:00 a.m., waiting for someone to check out so we could get a room.

What a fun vacation!

The Bible teaches that thinking ahead is the mark of wisdom. Proverbs 22:3 says, “A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (TLB).

Why didn’t I see that verse before our vacation? It would have helped me realize that, because I lacked margin in my life, I wasn’t even able to plan ahead for a simple vacation.

Don’t make the same mistake I did. Build margin into your life so that you can have the space and perspective you need to anticipate problems and plan for them.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

How does margin help you plan better for potential problems?
Once you anticipate a potential problem, what can you do to better plan for it?
Why do you think God allows you to experience problems and difficulties in the life he meant for you to live?

The post Margin Helps You Plan for Problems appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

WATCH: In a World Filled with Anxiety and Hurt, You’re Helping People Find Hope!

In a World Filled with Anxiety and Hurt, You’re Helping People Find Hope!.single-devotional-content > img:first-child{display: none;}<br />>

As Josh Warren, the President of Daily Hope shares in the video above, thanks to the generosity of friends like you, more people around the globe are able to hear the powerful message of God’s love in their own language.

God only knows how many people will be in heaven, thanks to you!

The post WATCH: In a World Filled with Anxiety and Hurt, You’re Helping People Find Hope! appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

Decir la Verdad en Amor Significa Tomar un Gran Riesgo

“La gente aprecia la crítica sincera mucho más que la adulación”.   Proverbios 28:23 (NTV)

Da miedo hablar la verdad en amor. La razón del porque no mostramos nuestros sentimientos y escondemos los problemas en nuestras relaciones es porque tememos a las posibles consecuencias. Dejamos que el miedo sea más grande que nuestro amor. ¡Hablar la verdad en amor significa tomar un gran riesgo! Y debido a que no queremos tomar ese riesgo, nos quedamos con las relaciones superficiales y poco profundas.

Mi esposa, Kay y yo, éramos profesionales en esto, en los inicios de nuestro matrimonio. Reprimíamos la verdad, escondíamos nuestros sentimientos e ignorábamos los problemas. Barríamos todo debajo de la alfombra para intentar mantener el statu quo de nuestro matrimonio. Estuvimos barriendo y barriendo todo debajo de la alfombra, y ese acumulación debajo de la alfombra se hacía cada vez más grande ¡hasta que estalló!

Deberías estar considerando el riesgo al rechazo debido a que amas a esa persona. Debes estar considerando absorber el enojo inicial de una confrontación en amor porque amas a esa persona. Eso toma mucho valor.

Algunos de ustedes no han sentido amor hacia un ser amado por semanas o meses o tal vez incluso años porque han estado encubriendo sus sentimientos. No están hablando la verdad en amor, y eso está matando la relación.

¿Con quién necesitas tener una conversación honesta? ¿Con quién necesitas hablar la verdad en amor? ¿Alguien en tu vecindario? ¿Alguien con quien te reúnes? ¿Ves a un adolescente en la dirección equivocada, involucrándose en cosas en las que no deberían? ¿Te importará lo suficiente para hablar la verdad en amor?

Reflexiona sobre esto

¿Hay un problema que estás pretendiendo que no es un problema en alguna de tus relaciones? ¿Cómo puedes confrontarlo?¿Dónde obtienes el valor para hablar la verdad en amor con alguien?¿Con quién necesitas tener una conversación honesta? ¿Qué pasos tomarás hoy para dirigirte a esa persona?Si todavía no has confiado en Jesús y no te has comprometido a seguirlo, ¿por qué esperar más? Si estás listo para cruzar esa línea y tomar la decisión de creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo; haz esta oración .Síguenos en Instagram & Facebook y comparte Esperanza Diaria con tus amigos y familiares.Recibe durante un mes un versículo de inspiración diario por WhatsAppNota: Desafortunadamente tenemos restricciones para enviar mensajes por WhatsApp a CUBA.

The post Decir la Verdad en Amor Significa Tomar un Gran Riesgo appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

If You’re Overloaded, Learn Your Limits

“I have learned that everything has limits.”

Psalm 119:96 (GNT)

If you want to build margin in your life so that you can do the work God meant for you to do, you have to remember that you are only human. You are not a god. You are not invincible. You have limits!

Psalm 119:96 says, “I have learned that everything has limits” (GNT).

God is the author of your limitations. He put them there for your good—because he loves you. So rather than fighting your limits, you need to accept your limits.

Sadly, as human beings we’re not very adept at recognizing our limits. We constantly overestimate our abilities and underestimate obstacles and how much time it will take to do something. On top of that, we live in a culture that constantly tells us, “You can do it all! You can have it all! You can be whatever you want!” But it’s not true. You can be all that God wants you to be, but you cannot be whatever you want to be. There are limits in your life.

In the first place, you have physical limits. You can’t go six months without food, no matter how much you talk yourself into it. Even the most powerful positive thinking can’t overcome your physical limits.

You also have emotional limits. These are much harder for you to recognize in your own life. Many people try to carry both their own problems and the problems of people around them. But how many people can you carry emotionally? How many of their problems can you handle? Probably not as many as you think.

You have mental limits too. The problem is that the media constantly pumps new information into your mind through radio, TV, and the Internet. As a result, many people around the world are mentally on overload. They can’t handle any more.

And, of course, you have time limits. No matter how many time-management seminars you attend, you’ll never have more than 24 hours in a day. And you’ll always have to sleep for part of that time.

You might be thinking, “It would really be nice if God would warn me when I’m reaching my limit.”

God has given you a warning light! It has different names: pain, fatigue, stress, loss of joy, irritability. When you feel any of these things, you’re on overload; you have exceeded some kind of limit in your life.

So how do you build margin in your life? The starting point for building margin is to realize you need margin because you have limits. You cannot just keep cramming your life full of things that are not important and do not help you accomplish your purpose.

Ask God to give you the wisdom to recognize your limits. Then start building margin into your life—and experience the joy that comes when you’re not living on overload.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

Why do you think God gave you limits? Why doesn’t he want you to do it all?
How do you find out what you should cut out or stop doing so that you have more margin in your life?
What limits do you already know you have? How did you discover them? Are you honoring them?

The post If You’re Overloaded, Learn Your Limits appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

Confronta con la Verdad, Afirma con Amor

“ Una palabra amable trae alegría ”  Proverbios 12:25b (TLA)

Una relación fuerte y saludable siempre está basada en dos pilares: Confrontar con la verdad y afirmar con amor. Si solo tienes uno de estos pilares en tu relación, no va a durar. ¡En cualquier momento se derrumbará!

La verdad te hará libre, pero primero te hará miserable. Si te llamo hoy y te digo, “Vamos a tomar un café. Quiero indicarte algunas áreas en tu vida que debes cambiar”. no vas a estar agradecido conmigo por ello, y dirás: “¿quién te crees que eres?”, tendrás resentimiento, rebelión, resistencia y obstinación. Te sentirás miserable, porque cuando compartes la verdad, duele al principio. Algunas veces en una cirugía se tiene que cortar un cáncer para que un cuerpo pueda sanar.

Cuando estás teniendo una conversación a cerca de hablar la verdad en amor con alguien, comienzas y terminas con una nota positiva, y afirmas estas tres cosas:

Afirma que amas y te preocupas por esa persona.Afirma que orarás y ayudarás a esa persona.Afirma que crees que esa persona puede cambiar.

Pablo hizo esto en 1ª y 2ª de Corintios. En ambos libros, él comienza y termina con afirmación. Por ejemplo: Pablo comienza su primera carta diciendo, “siempre doy gracias a Dios por ustedes” y al final del libro dice, “mi amor en Cristo Jesús esté en todos vosotros”. En el medio, él está tratando con unas verdades muy duras. Comienza y termina con una nota positiva, pero también incluye una afirmación como esta en medio de su segunda carta: “Tienen toda mi confianza, y estoy muy orgulloso de ustedes”  2 Corintios 7:4a (NTV).

Observa que Pablo usó la palabra “y” nunca debes usar la palabra “pero” en una confrontación. En el momento que lo haces, sin importar lo que digas antes o después, será ignorado e invalidado: “Creo que eres una gran persona, pero…” “Hemos sido amigos por un largo tiempo, pero…” en lugar de eso, usa la palabra “y”. “Eres una gran persona, y creo que puedes ser mejor”. “Hemos tenido una gran relación, y creo que hay algunas cosas en las que debemos trabajar”. Eso es lo que significa afirmar a alguien.

Reflexiona sobre esto:

¿Cuáles son algunas formas prácticas en las que puedes planear lo que vas a decir cuando confrontas a alguien?¿Cómo ha usado alguien la afirmación cuando te han corregido en el pasado? ¿Cómo te hizo sentir?¿Por qué a veces la verdad duele?Si todavía no has confiado en Jesús y no te has comprometido a seguirlo, ¿por qué esperar más? Si estás listo para cruzar esa línea y tomar la decisión de creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo; haz esta oración .Síguenos en Instagram & Facebook y comparte Esperanza Diaria con tus amigos y familiares.Recibe durante un mes un versículo de inspiración diario por WhatsAppNota: Desafortunadamente tenemos restricciones para enviar mensajes por WhatsApp a CUBA.

The post Confronta con la Verdad, Afirma con Amor appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

You May Be in a Hurry, but God Is Not

“God . . . does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NCV)

If you want to slow down your life, you’ve got to learn to trust God’s timing.

When things aren’t happening as quickly as you hoped, it’s easy to get impatient. But do you know what impatience really is? It’s a lack of trust.

When you’re impatient, it’s like you’re saying, “God, I don’t really trust you. I don’t think you have my best interest at heart. I’m in a hurry for something, and I don’t believe you know when I need it.” You get worried, you get hurried, and you start scurrying—because you don’t trust God to do things at the right time and in the right way. So instead of trusting his timing, you struggle and strive.

If you’re like most people, when you want something, you want it fast. But is fast always better? Not always.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “God . . . does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing” (NCV).

God has a plan for your life. You probably know that. But he also has a timetable for your life. Here’s the thing: God never explains his timetable. And sometimes that can be really difficult to accept.

One of the most painful things in life is when you’re in a hurry and God’s not. As children grow up and mature, they learn the difference between “no” and “not yet.” A delay is not the same as a denial.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have to learn the same thing: God’s delay is not his denial. He has a plan and a timetable. And his timing is perfect.

During the 15 years that Saddleback Church grew without a building, this is the verse that God used to encourage me: “This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed” (Habakkuk 2:3 NLT).

Has God given you a vision that hasn’t become reality yet? It’s coming—but on God’s timetable. In the meantime, slow down and trust him.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

Talk It Over

Looking back over your life, when can you see that God’s “delay” in your life was for the best?
What is the vision God has given you that you’re waiting on him to fulfill?
What would it look like to slow down and trust God as you wait on him and his timing?

Will you follow Jesus today?

God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).

Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life? If so, pray this simple prayer: "Dear God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

The post You May Be in a Hurry, but God Is Not appeared first on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.