Daily Hope with Rick Warren

God never intended for you to go through life carrying all your grudges, guilt, and grief alone. Jesus wants you to come to him for restoration. He promises, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28 NLT).

When you’re in pain, you need to ask, “What is God doing?” Is he trying to get your attention? Is he trying to bring good out of bad? Is he preparing your character for heaven? No matter what, you can trust that God will use your pain to help you grow.

The Christian life isn’t a mistake-free life, but it can be a guilt-free life. God understands your failures—and he loves you anyway. That’s God’s amazing grace! It is his goodness to you, and you can rest in it today.

By nature, people are discontent. But by God’s grace, you can rest contentedly in his goodness to you. When you grasp that most things in your life are simply gracious gifts from God, your life will go from overwhelming to overflowing with God’s abundance.

Nobody ever asks for things in the final moments of life. They always ask for people, because eventually everyone learns that life is all about relationships. Why not learn that sooner? It sure would relieve a lot of stress.

Are you perfect? Absolutely not. Are you broken? Yes. Are you a sinner? Yes. But are you of infinite value? Yes! And you are deeply loved by God. He has already proved your worth on the cross.

Why did God rest and relax on the seventh day? It’s not because he was tired, because God doesn't get tired. He was modeling what he wants you to do: Stop work and relax. Keep a Sabbath, and rest in God’s goodness.

A lot of your worry, hurry, scurry, and restlessness comes from not understanding the goodness of God in your life. When you understand what God has done for you and wants to do for you in the future, you can relax, let go, and learn to rest.

It takes more than willpower to stop worrying—but you already know that, because you’ve already tried it. You’ve thought, “I shouldn’t worry about this,” yet it stays on your mind. Here are four steps to help you stop worrying.

You’ll truly taste the sweetness of God’s Word when you feed on it every day—read it, study it, and meditate on it—and let it saturate your heart and mind.

Take your needs to God in prayer. Then watch for the ways he answers your prayers and meets those needs. You’ll learn to trust that God is reliable and that you can count on him, no matter what.

It’s okay to plan for tomorrow. But don’t worry about tomorrow! Trust God for each day as it comes.

Would you rather have your worries or God’s Word running through your head? Do something about it today: Confess your worry—and then fill your mind with God’s truth found in his Word.

If God loved you enough to die for you, he certainly loves you enough to feed you, lead you, and meet whatever need you have today.

Remember: You don’t have to carry what God has already promised to take care of. Simply acknowledge that he is the source of everything you need—and pray: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”(Psalm 23:1 ESV).