Pastor Rick's Daily Hope on Oneplace.com
Pastor Rick's Daily Hope on Oneplace.com

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

October 7, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Life is constantly in motion, even at a molecular level, as Rick Warren points out in this episode from the Strategies for Stressful Times series. But while some changes are welcome, others feel relentless and overwhelming. The central question of the episode is straightforward: how do you keep trusting God when the changes happening in your life are changes you actively dislike? Warren offers a framework built on five things to remember, focusing on the first three in this part of the message.

Change Is Unavoidable and Seasonal

The first and most basic truth is that change is unavoidable. Warren grounds this in Genesis 8:22, which states that as long as the earth remains, there will be seasons—spring and harvest, cold and heat, day and night. This principle applies to every area of life: your family, your job, and even you yourself are not the same as they used to be. Trying to stop change is futile. Warren illustrates this with a personal example, noting that he drove the same Ford truck for 20 years and would have kept driving it forever, but eventually it started breaking down. He ties this into a framework he has taught for decades: there is no growth without change, no change without loss, no loss without grief, and no grief without pain. A person who wants to grow but refuses to go through the pain of change, he says, is like a woman who wants a baby but doesn't

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:30) **Introduction: Trusting God Through Unwanted Changes** - Pastor Rick opens part one of a message on trusting God during seasons of rapid, relentless, and unwanted change.
  • 2 (02:56) **Truth #1: Change is Unavoidable** - Rick establishes the foundational reality that change is constant and inescapable, quoting Genesis 8:22 to prove that life is seasonal.
  • 3 (06:10) **Truth #2: Change is Not Always Good, But God Uses It for Good** - Rick pivots to a more crucial truth, grounding it in Romans 8:28, which promises God works all things for good for those who love Him.
  • 4 (10:29) **The Choice Between Bitter and Better** - Rick introduces a simple wordplay to highlight the listener's role in responding to change.
  • 5 (10:49) **Truth #3: God's Purpose in Every Change is to Make You More Like Jesus** - Rick explains that the ultimate "good" God works for is character transformation into the likeness of Christ, referencing Romans 8:29.
  • 6 (14:43) **How God Develops Character Through Opposition** - Rick explains the counterintuitive method God uses to build the fruit of the Spirit in believers.
  • 7 (17:38) **The Current Season as a School of Character** - Rick concludes the main argument by framing the listener's recent difficult months as a classroom for learning these specific Christ-like qualities.

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Guests on this episode

Rick Warren

Show Notes

We all face stressful seasons in life, times when we feel like we’re treading water and barely getting by. Thankfully, God’s Word gives us new strength to keep going, to trust God when it doesn’t make sense, and to handle stress even in the most difficult of times. In this series, Pastor Rick explains how to make it across the finish line when you’re feeling tired and worn out.Change is a part of life. But sometimes, there are seasons when change feels so rapid and relentless that we feel stuck—overwhelmed, exhausted, and not knowing what to do. In this message, Pastor Rick reminds you that God has a purpose for the changes you face—and it’s to make you more like Jesus.Anybody can be happy when everything's going their way. But only true joy can come from God when you’re in the middle of suffering, grief, and heartbreak. In this message, Pastor Rick explores how God’s peace can flood into the most chaotic of circumstances.
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Pastor Rick's Daily Hope on Oneplace.com

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