July 29, 2025 • 29 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, I have a question for you. Are you struggling
to stand firm in your faith, push through tough times,
or make a difficult decision. Well, you're in the right
place because today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, we continue
in a powerful series called Uncommon Courage, and in this
(00:22):
series you'll discover how to stand boldly for the truth,
persevere through challenges, and step out in faith. Please don't
miss a single day of Daily Hope, because the courage
you need starts with God. All right, So let's jump
right in with part two of a message called the
Courage to Keep Going.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Some of the best advice I got many years ago,
my dad said this to me. He may have read
it somewhere, but it's really stuck with me. He said, Son,
There's going to be things in life you don't understand,
and they're not going to make sense, and you're gonna
have all kinds of questions. What you need to do
is create a ask God later file in your brain,
(01:08):
and you need to plug those questions there, because there
are going to be things that just don't make sense
and you want to go, why God, why? But they
aren't going to be answered now. So you just need
to create a doesn't make sense file A, I don't
(01:29):
understand it, file A. God, I'm going to ask you
about this later. File. And every time you get one
of those unanswerable questions, you just park it there and
you leave it and you let it go, and you
get on with your life and you do the best
you can with what you have. For Jesus Christ today,
(01:51):
profound advice, just park it in that I don't understand file.
You see, sometimes you pray about something and you want
it so badly your heart is about to break. You go, God,
I've invested my entire life savings in this business and
(02:12):
I want it to work, but it doesn't work. And
sometimes you say, God, I so badly want to get married,
but it hadn't happened. And God, I want I have
a baby, but it hasn't happened. And God, and sometimes
you want so badly and you pray about it, and
you pray about it, and you pray about it and
you pray about it, but you don't get what you want.
(02:34):
And in that moment you are tempted to doubt God,
to doubt his promises, and to doubt the efficacy of prayer.
That's normal, even Job doubted the efficacy of prayer. You
say he did, Yeah, he did. Look of the next verse,
(02:57):
Job twenty one fifteen. Who is the all my and
why should we obey him? This is a guy in
deep pain? What good is it if we pray? He's said,
why God? Why?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Now?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Sometimes you pray and when you don't get what you want,
it feels like God has let you down and you're disappointed,
and you make an illogical jump and you say, well,
God just doesn't love me. You're wrong, You're dead wrong.
You will never understand how much God loves you. He
will never love you any more or less than he
(03:33):
does right now. And as I've said many times, you
can't make God stop loving you. You can rail at him,
but he's not going to stop loving you because God
is love and we always get into trouble when we
doubt God's love. What I need to do instead of
asking why, is I need to take Step four? Trust
God in things I don't understand. That's step four. I
(03:58):
stop asking why because I'm not gonna find the answer now,
and I trust God in things I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The fact is God always answers prayer, always, always, always,
always always answer prayer. He doesn't always answer yes, he
doesn't always answer the way I wish. In fact, there
are hundreds of ways God can answer your prayers besides yes.
(04:29):
Sometimes God answers a prayer with yes some guys, God
answers a prayer with no. Sometimes God answers to prayer
with not yet. Sometimes God answers a prayer with weight.
Sometimes God answers to prayer with you gotta be kidding me.
Sometimes God answers to prayer with you be the answer.
(04:53):
I mean, go out and you be the answer. I
mean to say God, I need a lot of money,
and God says, go get a job. God, I want
to get married. Well, get out there and meet some people.
God's not gonna drop a man just out of heaven.
He might smash you. Sometimes God says you be the answer.
(05:16):
Sometimes God says, trust me, You're not gonna know on
this one. Just trust me. So lots of different ways
that God answers prayer. Now for thirty seven chapters in
the Book of Job, Job is asking the why questions,
Why God, why is this happening to me? Why are
you allowing this? Why so much pain? S I so
(05:38):
much discomfort? Why haven't you answered my prayers? Why do
you just why?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Why?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Why?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
And in chapter eight, Job stops asking why and God says, Okay,
hang on, Job, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
And for the next two chapters, chapter thirty eight and
chapter thirty nine, God barrages Joebe with questions that only
God could answer. He says, like, uh, where were you
(06:06):
when I made the universe? Can you explain the law
gravity and all that kind of stuff? Do you understand
why the sun is hot? And for two chapters God
answers and asks questions that obviously only God could answer,
and Job realizes after two chapters are listening to God's
(06:27):
question to him, who am I to be questioning God?
I mean, really, I'm just a man. My knowledge is limited.
I can't see at all. My brain capacity is too small.
If you could understand why God does everything he does
in your life, you'd be God. But you're not. And
(06:50):
for me to try to understand the ways of God
in the world is like an ant trying to understand
the Internet. No matter how hard tries, he's not going
to understand the Internet. There is no way that a
finite human is going to understand an infinite an infinite God,
(07:12):
you don't have the capacity. So there's some things I
just have to trust God for. I don't understand them.
They don't make sense. I'm filing it in to ask
God later. File but I'm going to trust God in
the things I don't understand. So Job goes my knowledge
is limited. I can't see it all. My brain capacity
is too small. I'm just a man. So he stops
(07:34):
questioning and he starts trusting Job forty two one to
three and verse six. Then Job replied to the Lord.
I know that you can do anything, God, and I
know that no one can stop you. You're you're sovereign,
and you're manipotent. You got ask who is this that
(07:55):
questions my wisdom with such ignorance. Job's doing a little
internal comversation here, he says, God, I can imagine you
saying who is this guy that questions my wisdom with
such ignorance? And Job admits it is I. I was
talking about things I did not understand, things far too
wonderful for me. God. I take back everything I said,
(08:20):
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.
Job says, I was talking about things I didn't understand.
This situation's way over my head. It's above my pay grade.
I don't have the capacity to understand the ways and
the wisdom of God. I'm sorry, I repent I was wrong.
(08:41):
I should just trust you in this. Now. What do
you do when you're in a situation that you don't
see what God sees. You can't see the whole picture.
Things aren't clear, and it makes no sense at all
to you what's happening. What do you do in that situation?
(09:02):
You remind yourself of the things about God that you
do know, that you know for certain, that you can
rely on, and you publicly affirm what you do know
in the midst of all the things that you don't
know and you don't understand. And this is exactly what
Job does throughout the entire book. I just wrote a
(09:23):
few of them down there on your outline. Job reminds himself.
He says, I know that God is good, and I
know that God is loving. Job Chapter ten, he says,
I know that God is all powerful. I notice that
God notices every detail of my life. I know that
for sure. I know that God is in control. I
(09:45):
know that God has a plan for my life, and
I know that God will protect me, he affirms, in
the middle of his doubts the stuff he does know
to be true. Now, I don't know what you're going
through right now. You may not feel it, but I
will tell you this. God is passionately and intimately aware
(10:06):
of every detail in your life that you're going through
right now, and He's paying attention to every breath and
every burp in your life. Nothing misses God's attention because
God is complete love and he made you to love you,
and he notices everything in your life. So even though
(10:28):
Job doesn't understand what's going on, he makes these affirmations
of faith, and you need to do this. I know
you're good, I know you're loving, I know you're powerful.
I know you notice the details of my life. I
know you're in control. I know you have a plan.
I know you will protect me. And after making all
these affirmations, Job comes to the decision, I'm going to
(10:52):
trust God no matter what. I may not understand it,
but I'm going to trust God no matter what. Look
at the next verse, Job says, though he slay me,
I will hope in him. WHOA you know he's saying there,
he's saying, God, I don't understand it all, but I'm
gonna trust you. God. If you kill me, I'm still
(11:15):
gonna trust you. If you end my life, I'm still
going to trust you. Have you come to that maturity
in your faith? Are you just still a spiritual baby?
And you can only trust God when things go good
in your life? The ultimate test of faith is God.
I don't understand all, but I know you're a good God.
And even if you let me die, I'm gonna trust
(11:37):
you because I wasn't made for this life anyway. I
was made for heaven.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
There's a phrase that has helped me a lot as
I deal with senseless tragedies. And I see him all
the time as your pastor, because I'm hearing what's going
on in your life and in your life and in
your life, and I see it all the time. And
one of the things I've just come to say in
my mind as I say this, it's all a part
of the plan. It's all a part of the plan.
(12:08):
That's a good thing to remember. It's all a part
of the plan. It's not all good, and God doesn't
cause it. God doesn't cause sin. If I went out
here and got drunk and got in an accident and
hurt somebody. That would not be God's will, It would
not be God causing it. But you know what, God says,
I'm even bigger than your sin. I'm bigger than your mistakes.
(12:33):
I'm greater than your faux paus and false and stupid decisions.
And you know what, I'll even fit that into the
plan for good. Somebody who's had to deal with the
quiet questions and had to deal with trusting God when
it didn't make sense. It's Pastor Eric and Stacy. But
you give them a warm welcome as they come and
(12:54):
tell their story.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
We would like to share with you how God is
helping us press on when life hurts and you feel hopeless.
Our lives forever changed on March third, twenty eleven, when
we were told that our healthy, active, beautiful and caring
eleven year old daughter Jesse had a brain tumor. It
(13:24):
was not just a brain tumor, but one that was
inoperable and incurable because it was in her brainstem. The
doctors gave us twelve to eighteen months and told us
to make the most of the days that we had
with Jess. Truly the worst news any parent would ever
be told. This news brought immense waves of pain, confusion, worry,
(13:49):
and fear at hurricane forces into our lives. We felt
so vulnerable and helpless. Parents are supposed to make booboos
go away, but this one was out of our control.
After days and days of research and getting over thirty
second opinions, hope was fading away super fast. Less than
(14:12):
one hundred and fifty kids get this tumor a year.
Researchers had spent thirty years trying to cure it, and
less than one percent of the kids live past five years.
We chose to focus on that one percent. We had
hope because we believe that God is in the miracle business.
(14:34):
I have in thought my years of ministry and pastoral
service to His church would somehow gain our prayers some
special type of treatment. We begged God to heal Jesse.
We pleaded with God to heal Jesse. I even negotiated
with him. We were so so desperate.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
All of this was going on inside of us. While
we did our best to remain positive with Jesse and
her big sister Shea and little brother JT. Jesse knew
she had a tough tumor, but we chose to focus
on hope. If you lose hope, you have nothing. So
we focused on the hope Jesse could be one of
(15:17):
those kids that make it five years or maybe even longer.
Surely God would hear our prayers and please Jesse started
treatment in April of twenty eleven, which consisted of thirty
rounds of radiation followed by daily chemo and a ton
of other meds. The radiation would cause Jesse to feel
(15:38):
extremely tired and caused her little toned, muscular body to
become weak. She no longer could run upstairs to play
legos with her brother. Rather, piggyback rides became a way
of transport. She did a good job dealing with how
the chemo made her feel, but it was so hard
to see her wavy blonde hair fall out. She'd so
(16:01):
desperately wanted to be normal again. Every time we went
to Children's Hospital of Orange County, we prayed as a
family in the car, asking God to give Jesse's strength
and courage to face the treatment. She was such a
trooper she listened to healer by Carrie Job and move
by Mercy Me during her radiation treatments. As soon as
(16:24):
the nurses would come get her, we would just hug
and cry and pray for our sweet pea. We wanted
so desperately to take it all away.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
We had hoped that it was all just a big,
bad dream. The truth was a train headed to Heaven
was coming, and Jess had a seat on it. We
had no idea when it was going to arrive, but
all the data was telling us that it would sooner
or later stop for her. We still prayed and prayed
(16:59):
countless time day. Many of you ushered prayers to God
on our behalf. The tens of thousands of people following
Jesse's journey on Facebook were praying also. Our daily goal
was quite simple, hold on to God, hold on to
each other, and hold on to Jess as long as
we could. So for the next few months we pressed
(17:22):
on by holding on the shining light in the storm
was actually Jesse herself, her smile, her hugs, her belly, laughs,
her spirit. To press on and trust God herself, Jess
clung to Philippians four thirteen. What says I can do
all things through Christ, who gives me the strength I need.
(17:45):
All meant be cancer.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Her desire to help others was unexplainable. See Jesse asked
us if she could help the other boys and girls
that had to stay in the hospital for their treatment.
Plans didn't liked the idea that other kids didn't get
to go home for treatment, so we created her joy jars.
Joy was Jesse's middle name, and it went great with jars.
(18:14):
Jesse loved to stuff her joyjars with new toys and
activities and take them to the hospital for other kids.
Soon she was getting requests from all around the world
for her joyjars. She stuffed and sent out over three
thousand herself. Her compassion for others really became a great
distraction from the daily grind of treatment and feeling alone.
(18:36):
She also chose to blog about her journey in very
transparent ways on her Facebook fan page, a fan page
that she used to encourage other kids fighting cancer to
nigu n e g u, which stands for never ever
give up. NIGU was her little motto and message to others.
(18:59):
The great thing about out Facebook was it allowed tens
of thousands of people from all around the world to
pray for and encourage Jesse. Many of you sent notes
of encouragement and we want to thank you for that.
She read every one of them. Then, on September eighteenth,
twenty eleven, and MRI showed Jesse had a second tumor.
(19:26):
All of the millions of prayers didn't get answered, all
of the pleading didn't work, all of the fears.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Were back stronger than ever.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
God didn't heal or Sweet Pea.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Why would he choose to let Jesse suffer more?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
When this news came, I got really mad at God,
really mad. I vented like never before because he had
the power to heal Jess he was choosing not to.
After my month fong made self made pity party, I
came to the realization that God didn't owe me an answer.
(20:07):
All Stacy and I could do was trust. So we
pressed on and got Jesse ten more rounds of radiation
plus a new chemo that needed to be administered with
an IV this time. This was not the greatest news,
as Jess hated needles, but by the time this by
this time, she had been poked over one hundred times
(20:27):
from her weekly labs and tests. This news also caused
us to have more serious talks with Jesse about heaven.
Jesse understood she could die, but chose to press on
and enjoyed life the best she could, and we just
followed or never ever give up spirit. Then at four
(20:50):
thirty am on January fifth of this year, Stacey woke
me up and told me she couldn't wake Jess. Was
this the day that trade was going to stop? We
weren't ready for it. It had only been ten months
and the doctors said twelve to eighteen. What was happening?
Did they lie to us? Was God trying to punish us?
(21:11):
Was God trying to teach us some life lesson? It
was all so confusing. When I got to Jesse, I
could tell something was not right. She was very lethargic.
So we called the palliative care team, and based off
of our diagnosis, they asked us to call all of
our extended family. By six am, the nurses had arrived,
(21:34):
given Jesse Moore mads and got oxygen flowing to comfort
her body. Thankfully, Jesse was in no pain, but we
sure were. Our hearts were being ripped out and we
couldn't stop it. God clearly was not going to heal
Jess here on earth. He had his reasons and purposes,
but we had no idea what they might be. Then
(21:57):
the nurse asked me to pray for Jesse. I thought,
what do I pray? God had not answered all of
my prayers to heal her. But then this peace came
over me as I verbally and mentally surrendered my daughter
to the loving hands of her heavenly Father. That day
we realized like never before that although we loved Jesse
(22:20):
deeply as her earthly parents, her heavenly Father loved her
even more than we did. Then, at seven am, we
woke up Shay and JT to tell them that Jesse
was going to heaven this day. Seeing the hurt and
fear on their faces added more and more pain. It
just didn't seem fair. Finally, at eleven ten am on
(22:46):
January fifth, twenty twelve, Jess joined our heavenly Father. No
more cancer, no more pain, no more suffering.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
We were so honored to have over nine thousand people
watch her celebration Celebration of life service, and close to
three hundred people gave their lives to God that day.
The last eight plus months have been a roller coaster
of emotion. We're defining a new normal for our family.
(23:21):
As Pastor Rick always says, you don't get over grief,
you get through it. It's true we have our ups and downs.
Our hearts still hurt. Some days are good and some
not so good. But slowly we're healing as we press
on one day at a time, trusting God for what
(23:42):
we do not understand. There are many questions we have
for God, but we've placed them in our Talk to
God file.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
One thing we have learned over the past year and
a half is that the only way we can press
on is to be authentic with our feelings. Trust God,
lean on our family and our friends and our small group,
be grateful for what we still do have, and keep
moving forward. Jesse's motto has become our motto, never ever
(24:15):
give up on God. We all have a choice every
day to be bitter or better. Stacy and I want
to be better, and we pray that no matter what
happens in your life, you too will choose to make
it help. Let it make you better and not bitter.
Thank you and God.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Bless You may be thinking, where was God when my
loved one died the same place he was when his
(24:56):
son died on the cross for you, when his son
was dying for your sins. So you could go to heaven.
He was grieving, he was weeping, He was sorrowing over
the brokenness of this planet because of sin. And now
nothing works right. But you weren't made to live forever
(25:20):
on this planet. No, No, you were made for something
far more. This is just a stopover place. You weren't
made to live on Earth forever. You ought to thank God.
You're not going to live on Earth forever. With all
the sorrow and suffering and sickness and illness, and sin
and abuse and perversion and war and crime and hatred
(25:44):
and all of the evil that's in this world. You
ought to thank God. You're not going to live forever
on this planet. You were made for so much more.
But you need a savior. As I've said many many times,
if you didn't need a savior, God wouldn't have sent
Jesus Christmas, for unto you is born this day a
(26:05):
savior who is Christ the Lord. If you could get
into heaven without Jesus Christ dying for your sins, believe me,
Jesus wouldn't have wasted his blood, and God wouldn't have
wasted his son. There's no other way you need savior.
I don't know what you're going through, but you need
to do these steps. You need to just be gut
(26:27):
level honest with God and tell them exactly how you
feel he can handle it. You need to involve other
people in your life, God, godly good people, get a
small group, get some support system, and let other people
help you. Humble yourself and receive help. Stop asking why
(26:48):
file it in the doesn't make sense file, and start
trusting God in all the things you don't understand.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
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.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
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 neighbors 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
(27:33):
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 it 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
(27:56):
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 a live it's active, and it
(28:17):
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, or
whether you listen to 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 one hundred
percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray for this
(28:39):
broadcast and would you continue to support us and let
write to me, 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.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Hey, if you'd like to support Pastor ricks Daily Hope, just.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Go to pastorick dot com.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
That's pastorick dot com. Or you can text the word
hope to seven oh three oh nine. That's the word
hope to seven oh three oh nine.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And really, from the.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
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.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
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.
Hey, I have a question for you. Are you struggling
to stand firm in your faith, push through tough times,
or make a difficult decision. Well, you're in the right
place because today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, we continue
in a powerful series called Uncommon Courage, and in this
(00:22):
series you'll discover how to stand boldly for the truth,
persevere through challenges, and step out in faith. Please don't
miss a single day of Daily Hope, because the courage
you need starts with God. All right, So let's jump
right in with part two of a message called the
Courage to Keep Going.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Some of the best advice I got many years ago,
my dad said this to me. He may have read
it somewhere, but it's really stuck with me. He said, Son,
There's going to be things in life you don't understand,
and they're not going to make sense, and you're gonna
have all kinds of questions. What you need to do
is create a ask God later file in your brain,
(01:08):
and you need to plug those questions there, because there
are going to be things that just don't make sense
and you want to go, why God, why? But they
aren't going to be answered now. So you just need
to create a doesn't make sense file A, I don't
(01:29):
understand it, file A. God, I'm going to ask you
about this later. File. And every time you get one
of those unanswerable questions, you just park it there and
you leave it and you let it go, and you
get on with your life and you do the best
you can with what you have. For Jesus Christ today,
(01:51):
profound advice, just park it in that I don't understand file.
You see, sometimes you pray about something and you want
it so badly your heart is about to break. You go, God,
I've invested my entire life savings in this business and
(02:12):
I want it to work, but it doesn't work. And
sometimes you say, God, I so badly want to get married,
but it hadn't happened. And God, I want I have
a baby, but it hasn't happened. And God, and sometimes
you want so badly and you pray about it, and
you pray about it, and you pray about it and
you pray about it, but you don't get what you want.
(02:34):
And in that moment you are tempted to doubt God,
to doubt his promises, and to doubt the efficacy of prayer.
That's normal, even Job doubted the efficacy of prayer. You
say he did, Yeah, he did. Look of the next verse,
(02:57):
Job twenty one fifteen. Who is the all my and
why should we obey him? This is a guy in
deep pain? What good is it if we pray? He's said,
why God? Why?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Now?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Sometimes you pray and when you don't get what you want,
it feels like God has let you down and you're disappointed,
and you make an illogical jump and you say, well,
God just doesn't love me. You're wrong, You're dead wrong.
You will never understand how much God loves you. He
will never love you any more or less than he
(03:33):
does right now. And as I've said many times, you
can't make God stop loving you. You can rail at him,
but he's not going to stop loving you because God
is love and we always get into trouble when we
doubt God's love. What I need to do instead of
asking why, is I need to take Step four? Trust
God in things I don't understand. That's step four. I
(03:58):
stop asking why because I'm not gonna find the answer now,
and I trust God in things I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The fact is God always answers prayer, always, always, always,
always always answer prayer. He doesn't always answer yes, he
doesn't always answer the way I wish. In fact, there
are hundreds of ways God can answer your prayers besides yes.
(04:29):
Sometimes God answers a prayer with yes some guys, God
answers a prayer with no. Sometimes God answers to prayer
with not yet. Sometimes God answers a prayer with weight.
Sometimes God answers to prayer with you gotta be kidding me.
Sometimes God answers to prayer with you be the answer.
(04:53):
I mean, go out and you be the answer. I
mean to say God, I need a lot of money,
and God says, go get a job. God, I want
to get married. Well, get out there and meet some people.
God's not gonna drop a man just out of heaven.
He might smash you. Sometimes God says you be the answer.
(05:16):
Sometimes God says, trust me, You're not gonna know on
this one. Just trust me. So lots of different ways
that God answers prayer. Now for thirty seven chapters in
the Book of Job, Job is asking the why questions,
Why God, why is this happening to me? Why are
you allowing this? Why so much pain? S I so
(05:38):
much discomfort? Why haven't you answered my prayers? Why do
you just why?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Why?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Why?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
And in chapter eight, Job stops asking why and God says, Okay,
hang on, Job, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
And for the next two chapters, chapter thirty eight and
chapter thirty nine, God barrages Joebe with questions that only
God could answer. He says, like, uh, where were you
(06:06):
when I made the universe? Can you explain the law
gravity and all that kind of stuff? Do you understand
why the sun is hot? And for two chapters God
answers and asks questions that obviously only God could answer,
and Job realizes after two chapters are listening to God's
(06:27):
question to him, who am I to be questioning God?
I mean, really, I'm just a man. My knowledge is limited.
I can't see at all. My brain capacity is too small.
If you could understand why God does everything he does
in your life, you'd be God. But you're not. And
(06:50):
for me to try to understand the ways of God
in the world is like an ant trying to understand
the Internet. No matter how hard tries, he's not going
to understand the Internet. There is no way that a
finite human is going to understand an infinite an infinite God,
(07:12):
you don't have the capacity. So there's some things I
just have to trust God for. I don't understand them.
They don't make sense. I'm filing it in to ask
God later. File but I'm going to trust God in
the things I don't understand. So Job goes my knowledge
is limited. I can't see it all. My brain capacity
is too small. I'm just a man. So he stops
(07:34):
questioning and he starts trusting Job forty two one to
three and verse six. Then Job replied to the Lord.
I know that you can do anything, God, and I
know that no one can stop you. You're you're sovereign,
and you're manipotent. You got ask who is this that
(07:55):
questions my wisdom with such ignorance. Job's doing a little
internal comversation here, he says, God, I can imagine you
saying who is this guy that questions my wisdom with
such ignorance? And Job admits it is I. I was
talking about things I did not understand, things far too
wonderful for me. God. I take back everything I said,
(08:20):
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.
Job says, I was talking about things I didn't understand.
This situation's way over my head. It's above my pay grade.
I don't have the capacity to understand the ways and
the wisdom of God. I'm sorry, I repent I was wrong.
(08:41):
I should just trust you in this. Now. What do
you do when you're in a situation that you don't
see what God sees. You can't see the whole picture.
Things aren't clear, and it makes no sense at all
to you what's happening. What do you do in that situation?
(09:02):
You remind yourself of the things about God that you
do know, that you know for certain, that you can
rely on, and you publicly affirm what you do know
in the midst of all the things that you don't
know and you don't understand. And this is exactly what
Job does throughout the entire book. I just wrote a
(09:23):
few of them down there on your outline. Job reminds himself.
He says, I know that God is good, and I
know that God is loving. Job Chapter ten, he says,
I know that God is all powerful. I notice that
God notices every detail of my life. I know that
for sure. I know that God is in control. I
(09:45):
know that God has a plan for my life, and
I know that God will protect me, he affirms, in
the middle of his doubts the stuff he does know
to be true. Now, I don't know what you're going
through right now. You may not feel it, but I
will tell you this. God is passionately and intimately aware
(10:06):
of every detail in your life that you're going through
right now, and He's paying attention to every breath and
every burp in your life. Nothing misses God's attention because
God is complete love and he made you to love you,
and he notices everything in your life. So even though
(10:28):
Job doesn't understand what's going on, he makes these affirmations
of faith, and you need to do this. I know
you're good, I know you're loving, I know you're powerful.
I know you notice the details of my life. I
know you're in control. I know you have a plan.
I know you will protect me. And after making all
these affirmations, Job comes to the decision, I'm going to
(10:52):
trust God no matter what. I may not understand it,
but I'm going to trust God no matter what. Look
at the next verse, Job says, though he slay me,
I will hope in him. WHOA you know he's saying there,
he's saying, God, I don't understand it all, but I'm
gonna trust you. God. If you kill me, I'm still
(11:15):
gonna trust you. If you end my life, I'm still
going to trust you. Have you come to that maturity
in your faith? Are you just still a spiritual baby?
And you can only trust God when things go good
in your life? The ultimate test of faith is God.
I don't understand all, but I know you're a good God.
And even if you let me die, I'm gonna trust
(11:37):
you because I wasn't made for this life anyway. I
was made for heaven.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
There's a phrase that has helped me a lot as
I deal with senseless tragedies. And I see him all
the time as your pastor, because I'm hearing what's going
on in your life and in your life and in
your life, and I see it all the time. And
one of the things I've just come to say in
my mind as I say this, it's all a part
of the plan. It's all a part of the plan.
(12:08):
That's a good thing to remember. It's all a part
of the plan. It's not all good, and God doesn't
cause it. God doesn't cause sin. If I went out
here and got drunk and got in an accident and
hurt somebody. That would not be God's will, It would
not be God causing it. But you know what, God says,
I'm even bigger than your sin. I'm bigger than your mistakes.
(12:33):
I'm greater than your faux paus and false and stupid decisions.
And you know what, I'll even fit that into the
plan for good. Somebody who's had to deal with the
quiet questions and had to deal with trusting God when
it didn't make sense. It's Pastor Eric and Stacy. But
you give them a warm welcome as they come and
(12:54):
tell their story.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
We would like to share with you how God is
helping us press on when life hurts and you feel hopeless.
Our lives forever changed on March third, twenty eleven, when
we were told that our healthy, active, beautiful and caring
eleven year old daughter Jesse had a brain tumor. It
(13:24):
was not just a brain tumor, but one that was
inoperable and incurable because it was in her brainstem. The
doctors gave us twelve to eighteen months and told us
to make the most of the days that we had
with Jess. Truly the worst news any parent would ever
be told. This news brought immense waves of pain, confusion, worry,
(13:49):
and fear at hurricane forces into our lives. We felt
so vulnerable and helpless. Parents are supposed to make booboos
go away, but this one was out of our control.
After days and days of research and getting over thirty
second opinions, hope was fading away super fast. Less than
(14:12):
one hundred and fifty kids get this tumor a year.
Researchers had spent thirty years trying to cure it, and
less than one percent of the kids live past five years.
We chose to focus on that one percent. We had
hope because we believe that God is in the miracle business.
(14:34):
I have in thought my years of ministry and pastoral
service to His church would somehow gain our prayers some
special type of treatment. We begged God to heal Jesse.
We pleaded with God to heal Jesse. I even negotiated
with him. We were so so desperate.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
All of this was going on inside of us. While
we did our best to remain positive with Jesse and
her big sister Shea and little brother JT. Jesse knew
she had a tough tumor, but we chose to focus
on hope. If you lose hope, you have nothing. So
we focused on the hope Jesse could be one of
(15:17):
those kids that make it five years or maybe even longer.
Surely God would hear our prayers and please Jesse started
treatment in April of twenty eleven, which consisted of thirty
rounds of radiation followed by daily chemo and a ton
of other meds. The radiation would cause Jesse to feel
(15:38):
extremely tired and caused her little toned, muscular body to
become weak. She no longer could run upstairs to play
legos with her brother. Rather, piggyback rides became a way
of transport. She did a good job dealing with how
the chemo made her feel, but it was so hard
to see her wavy blonde hair fall out. She'd so
(16:01):
desperately wanted to be normal again. Every time we went
to Children's Hospital of Orange County, we prayed as a
family in the car, asking God to give Jesse's strength
and courage to face the treatment. She was such a
trooper she listened to healer by Carrie Job and move
by Mercy Me during her radiation treatments. As soon as
(16:24):
the nurses would come get her, we would just hug
and cry and pray for our sweet pea. We wanted
so desperately to take it all away.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
We had hoped that it was all just a big,
bad dream. The truth was a train headed to Heaven
was coming, and Jess had a seat on it. We
had no idea when it was going to arrive, but
all the data was telling us that it would sooner
or later stop for her. We still prayed and prayed
(16:59):
countless time day. Many of you ushered prayers to God
on our behalf. The tens of thousands of people following
Jesse's journey on Facebook were praying also. Our daily goal
was quite simple, hold on to God, hold on to
each other, and hold on to Jess as long as
we could. So for the next few months we pressed
(17:22):
on by holding on the shining light in the storm
was actually Jesse herself, her smile, her hugs, her belly, laughs,
her spirit. To press on and trust God herself, Jess
clung to Philippians four thirteen. What says I can do
all things through Christ, who gives me the strength I need.
(17:45):
All meant be cancer.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Her desire to help others was unexplainable. See Jesse asked
us if she could help the other boys and girls
that had to stay in the hospital for their treatment.
Plans didn't liked the idea that other kids didn't get
to go home for treatment, so we created her joy jars.
Joy was Jesse's middle name, and it went great with jars.
(18:14):
Jesse loved to stuff her joyjars with new toys and
activities and take them to the hospital for other kids.
Soon she was getting requests from all around the world
for her joyjars. She stuffed and sent out over three
thousand herself. Her compassion for others really became a great
distraction from the daily grind of treatment and feeling alone.
(18:36):
She also chose to blog about her journey in very
transparent ways on her Facebook fan page, a fan page
that she used to encourage other kids fighting cancer to
nigu n e g u, which stands for never ever
give up. NIGU was her little motto and message to others.
(18:59):
The great thing about out Facebook was it allowed tens
of thousands of people from all around the world to
pray for and encourage Jesse. Many of you sent notes
of encouragement and we want to thank you for that.
She read every one of them. Then, on September eighteenth,
twenty eleven, and MRI showed Jesse had a second tumor.
(19:26):
All of the millions of prayers didn't get answered, all
of the pleading didn't work, all of the fears.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Were back stronger than ever.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
God didn't heal or Sweet Pea.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Why would he choose to let Jesse suffer more?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
When this news came, I got really mad at God,
really mad. I vented like never before because he had
the power to heal Jess he was choosing not to.
After my month fong made self made pity party, I
came to the realization that God didn't owe me an answer.
(20:07):
All Stacy and I could do was trust. So we
pressed on and got Jesse ten more rounds of radiation
plus a new chemo that needed to be administered with
an IV this time. This was not the greatest news,
as Jess hated needles, but by the time this by
this time, she had been poked over one hundred times
(20:27):
from her weekly labs and tests. This news also caused
us to have more serious talks with Jesse about heaven.
Jesse understood she could die, but chose to press on
and enjoyed life the best she could, and we just
followed or never ever give up spirit. Then at four
(20:50):
thirty am on January fifth of this year, Stacey woke
me up and told me she couldn't wake Jess. Was
this the day that trade was going to stop? We
weren't ready for it. It had only been ten months
and the doctors said twelve to eighteen. What was happening?
Did they lie to us? Was God trying to punish us?
(21:11):
Was God trying to teach us some life lesson? It
was all so confusing. When I got to Jesse, I
could tell something was not right. She was very lethargic.
So we called the palliative care team, and based off
of our diagnosis, they asked us to call all of
our extended family. By six am, the nurses had arrived,
(21:34):
given Jesse Moore mads and got oxygen flowing to comfort
her body. Thankfully, Jesse was in no pain, but we
sure were. Our hearts were being ripped out and we
couldn't stop it. God clearly was not going to heal
Jess here on earth. He had his reasons and purposes,
but we had no idea what they might be. Then
(21:57):
the nurse asked me to pray for Jesse. I thought,
what do I pray? God had not answered all of
my prayers to heal her. But then this peace came
over me as I verbally and mentally surrendered my daughter
to the loving hands of her heavenly Father. That day
we realized like never before that although we loved Jesse
(22:20):
deeply as her earthly parents, her heavenly Father loved her
even more than we did. Then, at seven am, we
woke up Shay and JT to tell them that Jesse
was going to heaven this day. Seeing the hurt and
fear on their faces added more and more pain. It
just didn't seem fair. Finally, at eleven ten am on
(22:46):
January fifth, twenty twelve, Jess joined our heavenly Father. No
more cancer, no more pain, no more suffering.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
We were so honored to have over nine thousand people
watch her celebration Celebration of life service, and close to
three hundred people gave their lives to God that day.
The last eight plus months have been a roller coaster
of emotion. We're defining a new normal for our family.
(23:21):
As Pastor Rick always says, you don't get over grief,
you get through it. It's true we have our ups and downs.
Our hearts still hurt. Some days are good and some
not so good. But slowly we're healing as we press
on one day at a time, trusting God for what
(23:42):
we do not understand. There are many questions we have
for God, but we've placed them in our Talk to
God file.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
One thing we have learned over the past year and
a half is that the only way we can press
on is to be authentic with our feelings. Trust God,
lean on our family and our friends and our small group,
be grateful for what we still do have, and keep
moving forward. Jesse's motto has become our motto, never ever
(24:15):
give up on God. We all have a choice every
day to be bitter or better. Stacy and I want
to be better, and we pray that no matter what
happens in your life, you too will choose to make
it help. Let it make you better and not bitter.
Thank you and God.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Bless You may be thinking, where was God when my
loved one died the same place he was when his
(24:56):
son died on the cross for you, when his son
was dying for your sins. So you could go to heaven.
He was grieving, he was weeping, He was sorrowing over
the brokenness of this planet because of sin. And now
nothing works right. But you weren't made to live forever
(25:20):
on this planet. No, No, you were made for something
far more. This is just a stopover place. You weren't
made to live on Earth forever. You ought to thank God.
You're not going to live on Earth forever. With all
the sorrow and suffering and sickness and illness, and sin
and abuse and perversion and war and crime and hatred
(25:44):
and all of the evil that's in this world. You
ought to thank God. You're not going to live forever
on this planet. You were made for so much more.
But you need a savior. As I've said many many times,
if you didn't need a savior, God wouldn't have sent
Jesus Christmas, for unto you is born this day a
(26:05):
savior who is Christ the Lord. If you could get
into heaven without Jesus Christ dying for your sins, believe me,
Jesus wouldn't have wasted his blood, and God wouldn't have
wasted his son. There's no other way you need savior.
I don't know what you're going through, but you need
to do these steps. You need to just be gut
(26:27):
level honest with God and tell them exactly how you
feel he can handle it. You need to involve other
people in your life, God, godly good people, get a
small group, get some support system, and let other people
help you. Humble yourself and receive help. Stop asking why
(26:48):
file it in the doesn't make sense file, and start
trusting God in all the things you don't understand.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
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.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
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 neighbors 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
(27:33):
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 it 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
(27:56):
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 a live it's active, and it
(28:17):
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, or
whether you listen to 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 one hundred
percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray for this
(28:39):
broadcast and would you continue to support us and let
write to me, 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.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Hey, if you'd like to support Pastor ricks Daily Hope, just.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Go to pastorick dot com.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
That's pastorick dot com. Or you can text the word
hope to seven oh three oh nine. That's the word
hope to seven oh three oh nine.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And really, from the.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
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.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
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.
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