Part 4 – Discontentment

The fourth D the Devil tries to throw at us is discontentment. It’s that feeling of being completely unsatisfied with our lives. It causes us to be depressed or jealous when we see someone having what we want or think we need to be happy. This kind of thinking causes us to believe that the grass is greener on the other side. Let me ask you this though is the grass greener on the other side? Isn’t that grass also full of obstacles and problems, maybe even just as many issues, if not more, than the grass that you left behind? My friends, all grass is full of problems or complications. No grass out there grows without bumps and bruises along the way. I don’t believe that the grass is greener on the other side. Don’t get sucked into these lies. Please don’t buy into them. When you buy into these lies from the Devil, do you know what happens? It can cause us to miss the Lord’s blessings. Accepting discontentment causes disfunction and chaos in all of our circumstances. In the end, it leaves us unhappy with what is going on.

My friends, let us not forget that He who started a work in us will be faithful to complete the work until the day of His return. You see, we have to choose to let Him work within us. Remember, God takes no breaks and doesn’t go on sick leave or vacations. He is and will always be a twenty-four-seven working God. He’s working around the clock for you, and He’s working around the clock for me. Please stand on that truth. Stand on that hope. Stand on that promise. Yes, you very well might not like what you see. Heck, you might not even like what you are thinking or feeling. If so, remember what God sees is far more abundant than you could ever think or imagine with your human eyes. We have to humble ourselves before Him. We need Him to help us become satisfied with ourselves and our situations. We need to stop leaning on our fleshy worldly understanding of things and instead rely entirely on Him.

Let’s take a look at Psalm 27:7 “Hear my voice when I call Lord, be merciful to me and answer me.”  My heart says, Seek His face, Your face Lord, I will seek. Well, there you have it, my friends. We have to seek Him out to keep moving forward with the Lord. We have to seek the loving face of the Lord. We need to stop desperately seeking worldly answers. Worldly answers aren’t what we need. These answers won’t and can’t sustain us. Only God can honestly give us the life-saving substance we need. No, we can’t always see or feel His hand at work in our lives. But He is always there, leading and guiding us every step. We won’t always see what God has in store for us. It can be highly frustrating at times. Yet as believers, we have to stop falling into the Devil’s trap of discontentment. Instead, we must learn how to be content, unlearn unhealthy thinking habits, and retrain our brains with the Lord’s help. We must be willing to bloom and grow where He has planted us.

We need to stop being afraid of the discontentment that we all sometimes feel. God already knows that we wrestle with these thoughts and feelings. Please let today be the day that you stop running from Him. Instead, run to Him without fear or judgment. He doesn’t want to condemn you. No, my friends, He wants to help you get to the bottom of these feelings. So the next time you feel uneasy about someone, or a situation, bring it to the Lord in prayer. When you are not satisfied with where God has planted you, bring it to the Lord in prayer. Stop letting discontentment cause depression-like issues.

When you feel jealous of your neighbor, bring it to the Lord in prayer. Stop letting the green-eyed monster consume and control you. Stop believing the Devil’s lies that your life isn’t good enough. Hear me when I say that every life goes through trials and tribulations. No one life is more precious than another. They all matter to God. You, my friend, yes, YOU matter to God. Stop being so fixated on what you don’t have that you lose the blessings in front of you. Let go of the desire to throw yourself a pity party every time life doesn’t look like you thought. You don’t need to suck other people into your misery; you instead need to give your misery over to God and ask Him to renew your mind. If you are not happy with the work done in and around you, then ask God to help you see things through His eyes and not your own eyes. Stop believing that where you are is where you will always be. God desires to take you higher and higher, and this kind of toxic negative thinking doesn’t help anything. It only makes you feel worse, and you feed into the Devil’s lies when you think this way. Instead, cast out this poisonous thinking. Bind it up and chuck it out. Loudly and firmly tell the Devil to pack his bags and get out! Start flat out refusing to eat the Devil’s Dish of Discontentment!

Make a choice right here and right now to start taking God’s words seriously. Stop picking it apart and only believing what best suits your needs. No, choose to start believing all of it. Believe in the excellent work He’s begun in each of us. Trust that He’s not going to leave you hanging. No, He will complete His work if you willingly and obediently let Him. I pray that you let Him. You see, we all need to make a choice. We need to stand on the promises that God is still working and that everything will work out for the good of those that love and serve the Lord God Almighty.

In a nutshell, this is saying to be content in His presence. Fill yourself with what God thinks about you. Not what the world thinks about you. Not what others think about you. There is nothing more fulfilling, powerful, and meaningful than to overcome discontentment in life by being in His presence and abiding in Him. We won’t always have and don’t always have to have the best of the best. Sure the world will tell us that we need it, but we don’t. We need to be content in everything, whether in much or little. Remember, if you must boast about anything, boast about having a relationship with the God of the Universe. Go and loudly tell the world all about Him. Get contentment by realizing it’s worth it when we have Him sustaining us, fulfilling us, and helping us keep on level ground. Bring yourself into His presence. Draw near to Him daily in all things. We don’t need everything when we realize God has blessed us beyond measure. He cares for us so much! With Him, we truly can beat discontentment.

Pray this prayer right now. Thank you, Lord, that I can call out to you. Every time I need you. I can be confident in knowing that you will always hear my cries. Change my heart Lord to be content in all things. Change my perspective on how my life is. Let me see things through your eyes. I praise you, Lord, and offer thanksgiving to you in Jesus’ name that I know all things will work out for your good because I love you. You have called me according to your purpose. I look at your goodness, Lord, that you are a good Father, and you have provided for me many times, anything I have ever needed. You have blessed me with above and beyond more than I could ever ask or imagine. You, Lord, are a blessed Lord, a blessed Redeemer. Today is the start of a new chapter. No longer will I ever struggle again with discontentment. No, today I’m letting it all go. I’m giving it all over to you. I will, and I can overcome this with joy and thankfulness, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I right now choose not to have discontentment in Jesus’ name!

Author: Priscilla Campbell
Editor: Nadia M. Walker/ JJ Michael Smith