Skip to content How to Be Happy No Matter What - pt 1 (happiness, faith) Apr 30 · 24 min ...more
How to Be Happy No Matter What - pt 1 (happiness, faith)
April 30, 2026 · 24 min
Pastor Rick teaches how to find happiness by learning to see things from God’s point of view. You can face any problem with faith when you ask, “What is God doing here? What’s the bigger picture?”
Series The Habits of Happiness 2026 April 30, 2026 · 24 min · The Habits of Happiness 2026
Pastor Rick teaches how to find happiness by learning to see things from God’s point of view. You can face any problem with faith when you ask, “What is God doing here? What’s the bigger picture?” ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor Rick teaches how to find happiness by learning to see things from God’s point of view. You can face any problem with faith when you ask, “What is God doing here? What’s the bigger picture?”
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Pastor Rick Warren shares the hope and encouragement you need to hear everyday. Listen in as he shares biblical truths to help you live the purpose driven life
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In this video 0:00 Habits of Happiness: Conquering the Killjoys8:38 Habit 1: View Problems from God's Perspective16:18 Habit 2: Don't Let Others Control Your Attitude
Habits of Happiness: Conquering the Killjoys 0:02 Hey, thanks for joining us today on pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. And today, we're continuing our series called the habits of happiness. In this0:14 series, Rick dives into the book of Philippians and helps you discover God's path to true and lasting happiness. And now, here's part 1 of a message called how to be happy0:26 no matter what.0:27 We're in a series we started just a week ago that I'm calling the habits of happiness. And we're looking verse by verse through the book of Philippians, which is the most0:39 positive, the most joyful, the happiest book in the Bible. Now 1 of the common mistakes that we all make is we fall into the trap of what I call when and then thinking.0:51 When and then thinking other words, when such and such happens then I'll be happy. And you have done this all your life and so have I. We we we fall in this when and1:03 then thinking. When I get into get into college, when I get married, when I have a baby, when I get a job, when I when my kids are1:15 born, when my kids leave the house, when when and then thinking then I'll be happy. Last week I shared with you 5 laws of happiness1:26 and 1 of them is that happiness is a choice. You're as happy as you choose to be. If you're unhappy you can't blame anybody for your unhappiness because happiness is a choice.1:39 You don't go looking for happiness, you create it. It is something you create and happiness by the way is not a goal. We talked about this last week. It is the byproduct of right thinking and right acting.
1:51 Now, there are 4 common barriers to happiness. I want you to just write these down at the top of your notes there. 4 common barriers, I call these the kill joys of life because when any of
2:03 these enter into your life then they're gonna rob your happiness unless you're prepared for them. The first 1 of course is pain. Pain is a killjoy. It's hard to be happy
2:15 and, and and in pain at the same time. But there's another 1 and you're you're familiar with this with too. I call it picky people. Picky people. People of all kinds
2:27 actually, can can cause you to lose your joy. They can be irritating, they can be demanding, they can be uncooperative, they can be arrogant. People are common killjoy in life. Number
2:39 3, pressure. Pressure can cause you to lose your happiness. And you can have pressure from within yourself or you can have it around you. It can be internal or it can be
2:50 external. And then number 4, and 1 you're all familiar with of course is problems. Problems, and there are all kinds of problems. So pain, people, pressures, and problems all
3:02 are what I call the kill joys. Now in Philippians chapter 1 verses, 20 or excuse me, verses 12 down to about verse 30 or
3:14 so, he Paul talks about all 4 of these killjoys. And we have an example of how to be happy no matter
3:26 what's going on in your life. Now I want to remind you that Paul when he writes this book, the happiest book, he's in prison. He's in prison in Rome. In
3:38 fact, the last 4 years of Paul's life had gone like this before he wrote this happiest book, in the bible. He spent 2 years in jail, in Caesarea on false charges. 2 years in
3:50 jail for false charges. Then, he is sent on the way to Rome, and he is shipwrecked in the Mediterranean ocean on the way to Rome, and he ends up on a desert island in the
4:01 Mediterranean, and he's stranded there for a while with some people. And while he is there, there are some snakes, a poisonous snake on an island. He actually gets bit by a snake while he is there. Then,
4:14 then he is imprisoned again for another 2 years in Rome with a guard chained to him 24 hours a day. So he has no privacy at all.
4:26 He's in prison in Rome with a, a praetorian guard cause he was such an important prisoner chained to him 24 hours a day. He has no no privacy. Now Paul has every reason to be bitter. He
4:38 has every reason to be unhappy. Instead he writes this book on happiness and on joy. Now let me read you, today's text. It's Philippians 1 12 to
4:50 30. It starts like this. I want you to know dear brothers and sisters, Paul's writing, that everything that has happened to me has helped me to spread the good news.
5:03 For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard know that I am in chains because of Christ. And I have gained confidence, oh, and because of my
5:15 imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ. Now some are sharing Christ out of jealousy and rivalry. He's talking
5:26 about the people who are outside. But others preach Christ with pure motives, and they love me, and they know that the Lord brought me here to defend the good news. But there are those who do not have pure motives as
5:38 they preach about Christ, and they preach with selfish ambition, and they're not sincere, intending to make my time in prison more painful to me. But whether or not their motives
5:50 are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ is being preached, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice no matter what. For I know that as you pray for me, he's writing to
6:02 people in the Philippi, the church in a city in Greece called Philippi. It's called Philippians. If he's writing us, it'd be first Californians. For I know, he says, that you are praying for me, and as the Spirit of
6:13 Jesus helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance. And I live in eager expectation and hope. And then he says, I want my life to always
6:25 honor Christ whether I live or I die. For to me, living is for Christ and dying is is even better. If I live, it just means more fruitful service, years of service for
6:37 Christ, but I'm often torn between 2 desires. Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go on and be with Christ in heaven. That would be far better for me. But
6:48 it's better for you if I live so that you can grow and that you can experience the joy of your faith. But whatever happens, you must live in a manner
7:00 worthy of the good news about Christ. Don't be intimidated by your enemies. It will be a sign to them of their downfall that God's with you and that he will save you. For you
7:12 have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of suffering for him. And we are in
7:24 this fight together. You've seen me suffer for Christ in the past, and you know that I am still in the middle of a great struggle. Now that's
7:36 a very warm personal note that Paul's writing. It's a very personal book. This letter he's writing to his friends in the church of Philippi that he started. And in this passage he covers
7:48 these 4 different killjoys, and he talks about how he has dealt with them, how he's maintained his happiness in spite of everything going in ways he hadn't planned.
8:00 Now the key verse in this whole passage I just read is verse 27. It's there on your outline and it says this. Whatever happens whatever happens, conduct
8:12 yourself in a manner worthy of the good news of Christ. So this weekend, we're gonna look at how to be happy no matter
8:23 what happens. So in this passage, we learn how to be happy no matter what even if you're in prison in Rome and Paul
8:35 models 4 habits. Let's get right into it. Number 1, I can be happy no matter what happens in my life if number 1, I look at every
Habit 1: View Problems from God's Perspective
8:47 problem from God's viewpoint. If I look at every problem from God's viewpoint. You see happy people have a larger perspective. They have a bigger world
8:59 view. They see the big picture. When I don't have the big picture, when I don't see things from God's point of view, I get discouraged, I get frustrated, I get unhappy. The reason we get unhappy is because we don't
9:11 see what God does. And the truth is no matter what's going on in your life, the good, bad, and the ugly, God is working out a plan. And he even takes all of our mistakes
9:23 and even puts those into the plan. He says I can use that too. My sins, yes. My faults, yes. What other people do, yes. God says I can I can fit it all into the plan and Paul knew this? And
9:35 so he starts out, the first verse is verse 12 and he says this, now I want you to know dear brothers and sisters that everything that has happened to me has helped spread
9:47 the good news. Now let me explain what's going on here. Ever since Paul had become a Christian on the road to Damascus, he had dreamed 1 great dream, and that was this. I wanna preach
9:59 in Rome. Rome is the center of the universe. Rome is the capital of the empire. Rome is the most prestigious powerful strategic city in the
10:11 world. There was no nation more important, than than, the Roman Empire, and there was no city more important than Rome. So Paul's dream is sharing Christ at the center
10:23 of the universe. And what he wants to do is this, he wants to go to Rome, he wants to rent the coliseum and he wants to do a harvest crusade for 6 months. That's what Paul's
10:35 thinking, I'm going to Rome to preach. God had another idea, Paul you're going to go as a prisoner and I'm going to make you a Royal prisoner of
10:46 Caesar. Now does anybody know who was Caesar at this point? Nero, you ever heard of that guy? Yeah Nero, about as wicked and as bad as you can get. So Paul
10:59 is a prisoner of Nero and as a royal prisoner with a royal guard chained to him 24 hours a day, he gets to talk to all
11:11 kinds of key people he would never otherwise talk to because he's an important prisoner. He's chained 24 hours a day to a palace guard for 2 years. They changed that guard every
11:23 4 hours. So I added it up. Over 2 years, he witnessed to 4380 guards. Now my question is who's the
11:35 real prisoner here? Who has the captive audience? Paul is talking to the entire court of Caesars Palace
11:47 And God says, this is my plan you wanna go do the big city lights national crusade but I'm gonna put you in prison. And there were 2 results of it we know
11:59 for sure. Chapter 4 when we get to later on will tell us that within 2 years some of Nero's own family had become believers because Paul was a prisoner in Rome. Some of the
12:11 Royal family had become Christians because Paul was in prison, And second, Paul is kind of like Rick Warren, it's hard to get him to sit down, sit still, not stop moving. He's forced to sit still
12:23 and he as a result writes the New Testament. I wonder which had a bigger impact. Go do harvest crusade in
12:35 in in the policy or be forced to sit still hour after hour and write Romans, first, second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and on and on. First, second
12:46 Timothy, and first, second Thessalonians, and all of most of the New Testament. This why Paul says, I want you to know dear brothers and sisters that everything that has happened to me being in prison has helped
12:58 spread the good news. So he says I've got I've got my plan, but God has a bigger plan. And he says I can be happy because I can see what God is doing through my problem.
13:10 Now I'm gonna just stop right here for a second. I want you to think of a problem that you're facing right now in your life. Okay? Think of a problem that you're facing in your life and I want us to bow our heads for 30
13:22 seconds. Okay? Just bow your head and I want you to say these words in your in your heart. God help me to see this problem from your perspective. Help me to
13:34 see this problem with eyes of faith. Amen. Now anytime you have a problem and it's starting to get you down, you're starting to be
13:46 unhappy, you need to do what Paul does. Learn to see it from God's point of view. What is God doing here? What's the bigger picture? What's the bigger perspective? And then you'll be able to face the problem in
13:58 faith. And when you face the problem in faith, 2 things will happen. Write these down. First, it's a witness to unbelievers. When Christians handle big problems
14:10 in faith, it is a witness to unbelievers. That's why in verse 13, he says, for everyone here, talking about the palace guard and in his the royal prison, everyone here including all the soldiers in the palace
14:21 guard knows that I'm in chains because of Christ. Well, I guess so. He'd witnessed over 4000 times the guys chained to him. It's a witness to unbelievers. Number 2, it's an encouragement to
14:33 believers. Verse 14, he says this, and because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence. Those in Rome. And
14:45 they've become more bold in telling others about Christ. It's a witness to unbelievers. It's an encouragement to believers. Have you ever thought that God might wanna use the problem you're going through right now for
14:56 the very same reason? You know since Matthew died, both of these have been true in my life. It has been a witness to unbelievers.
15:09 It's been an encouragement to believers. Why? Because Kaye and I looked at the problem from God's perspective, not our own, and we we faced it in
15:20 faith. The story went out in People Magazine. I never imagined in my lifetime that I would ever be on People Magazine. I mean I know I'm that good looking
15:33 but but I never imagined in my lifetime that I would be in people on the cover of people magazine. So how many people have heard the gospel
15:45 since Matthew died millions, Millions. Because of all of the the the, the stories and the interviews and the CNN and all that millions
15:57 have heard the good news. And I could say like Paul, I want you to know friends that all that has happened to me has worked out for the furthering of the good news. Have
16:09 you ever thought that that might be true in the problem in your life? If you will look at it from that way, it's gonna change your perspective in a major way. Alright. Number 2. I can be habit no matter
Habit 2: Don't Let Others Control Your Attitude
16:20 what happens if I never let others control my attitude. And this is a good example of Paul gives us right here in this passage. I can be happy no
16:32 matter what happens in my life if I never let others control my attitude. I don't let them decide whether I'm gonna be happy or not. Now Paul in this next
16:44 section he talks about 4 kinds of people. And while he's in in prison he says now there there are some people who are attacking my ministry. They they slandered Paul, they
16:55 judged Paul, they they criticized Paul, they were they were gossip mongers. There were some people who supported this ministry that were friends. There were some who competed with this ministry. They're trying to kick
17:07 him while he's down. And there were some who were, you know, undermining his ministry. They're even trying to destroy him. They're trying to rub it in. He's in prison. They're trying to make it more painful. And
17:19 in Philippians chapter 1 verses 15 to 17, Paul describes 4 kinds of people. 3 of them are killjoys. One's a good kind, and he says, there are 4 kinds of people in my life. There are critics,
17:32 you know, who are who are slandering me and who are creating all kinds of controversy. There are comrades, that's my friends. There are competitors who are who are preaching Christ out of rivalry. And he said they're
17:43 conspirators who just wanna make my problem worse. They wanna rub it in. They wanna kick me while I'm down, while I'm in prison. They're my enemies. Now notice these verses there on your outline. First verse, this is
17:53 verse 15 talking about critics. He says, It is true that some preach Christ because they are jealous and quarrelsome. Have you ever met anybody like that? They
18:05 love to argue. They they love conflict. They enjoy creating controversy. They enjoy getting into a cat fight. These people are contentious. They
18:17 are divisive. They are critical. Have you ever read a blogger or saw somebody on social media who was contentious and critical of somebody's ministry or
18:29 this or that? If you haven't, just go to my website and you'll find hundreds. There'll be plenty. Now notice that here, he says they're jealous and they're quarrelsome. Notice
18:40 that the critics motive is usually jealousy. When people criticize something they usually are jealous of it. But what he's saying here is he says you know I have to deal with these
18:52 people and and and would you agree that few things could rob your happiness faster than being criticized? When you're criticized at work or you're criticized by friends
19:04 or you're criticized by neighbors, your stomach starts churning. Why? Because we all want to be loved. We all want to be approved. We want everybody to like us.
19:16 Let me give you a little happiness hint, 1 of those little hh's. You might write this down. I don't need other people's approval to be happy. I don't
19:28 need other people's approval. I don't need other people's permission to be happy. You're as happy as you choose to be. If they're unhappy that's their choice but you
19:40 don't have to depend on other people's approval in order to be happy. And if you haven't got it now you're probably not gonna get it, And you're gonna be miserable if you try to live for the approval of everybody else.
19:52 Paul is modeling here, never let others control your attitude. And some of these people, they're they're just jealous and they're quarrelsome, and they're they're cranky, and they criticize everything I do in my
20:02 ministry. And then in the next verse, verse 16, he talks about the good guys. These are his friends. These are his comrades. He says, others preach Christ from genuine goodwill and
20:14 they do so out of love. That's the real reason we share the good news, out of love. And they know that God has given me the work of defending the gospel. So he says, you know, those
20:26 people bring me joy obviously. Then in verse 17 he talks about another killjoy competitors. He says others preach Christ insincerely from a spirit of selfish ambition. Circle the phrase
20:38 selfish ambition. He said these he said there I hate to say this, but they're actually people in ministry. There are people with national ministries, radio, television, and books, and who are ego
20:50 driven. And how do you know when somebody's ego driven? They put other people down all the time to build themselves up. That's when you know somebody's ministering and selfish
21:01 ambition. They feel compelled to put other people down in order to build themselves up. Now, you're not a preacher but if you're in any kind of business you have competitors.
21:15 And if you don't deal with this, you will competitors will rob your happiness. And you look at, well look at what they're doing. You can
21:27 have competition over the color of your lawn. Neighbors are greener. We better get ours going. You can have competition over the car you drive. You
21:39 can have competition over your kids, but you know that's competition. My kid my kid, and I'm so proud. You can compete over hairstyle. You can compete over shoes. Don't look
21:51 at people right now, but you know that's true. You know that's true. And and if you don't deal with this, you're gonna be unhappy a lot of your life because critics will rob
22:03 your happiness and competitors will rob your happiness.
22:12 Thank you for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Hey, did you know that most people look for happiness in all the wrong places? You won't find it through money, fame or power. You'll only find
22:23 real lasting happiness by following God's commands, and that's why Rick created the Habits of Happiness Bible study. Here's Rick to tell you more.
22:33 If you'd like to learn more about the habits of happiness, I've got a new resource to help you. It's called the Habits of Happiness guided experience book. In this resource, you're gonna learn how seeing
22:45 things from God's perspective will help you develop the biblical habits of happiness. And you're gonna discover how happiness runs deeper than any circumstance or any feeling or any relationship.
22:57 Now I'm excited because this book is filled with biblical truth, practical lessons, application exercises, and a lot of space for you to write down your responses to what God is
23:09 teaching you. It's a really powerful workbook, and it's a comprehensive study tool I believe is gonna help you grow to your next level of spiritual maturity. This bible study is only available
23:21 on Daily Hope, and quantities are limited. So be sure to request the Habits of Happiness bible study today when you give a gift to help Daily Hope take the hope of Jesus to a hurting
23:33 world. It's our way of saying thanks. Just go to pastor rick dot com to get your copy of this great resource. That's pastor rick dot com, or you can just text the word hope to
23:44 7 0 3 0 9. Again, that's the word hope to 7 0 3 0 9. And thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the
23:54 hope of Christ with people everywhere. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your
24:06 generous financial support.
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