Holy dissatisfaction. If it’s true, as I’ve argued elsewhere, that discontentment can be a spiritual danger, I must add that sometimes discontentment can have a more divine source. Sometimes discontentment can be exactly what we need to fuel our spiritual growth. Chalk it up to one of the many paradoxes of the Christian faith, but discontentment can sometimes be as good for us as it can at other times be bad. For, if we are discontent with this life and its offerings it reminds us to long for the coming Kingdom of God where discontentment will never exist.
It’s important to wrestle with your discontentment, your frustration with life. It’s valuable to try and dispel and dispense with some of the dissatisfaction that you may have and experience. For, after all, that can lead you to places of unthankfulness and ingratitude. But to try and sequester yourself in some contentment bubble is perhaps even more dangerous. To try and live life in such away that you are always comfortable, always satisfied, and always content is to suggest that this life is all you need. Those of us who have bought into the American Dream are certainly on the path to such a spiritual bomb shelter. Our faith never grows because it is never tested, and, quite honestly, probably not a genuine faith in God but, rather, a faith in our 401K. Sometimes discontentment is necessary and good for us.
A number of the old hymn writers got this concept well. “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always.” Henry Baker wrote, “The King of love my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am his and He is mine forever.” And another wrote, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” I love those old hymns, even if I sometimes had a more disdainful response to the tunes. But the problem is that while I can sing those words in worship, and sincerely mean them, when I go back to my job, my routine, my frustrations I can’t help but put my eyes back on the rolling waves and begin to sink into the abyss of discontentment. But perhaps that’s not all that bad. Perhaps those hymns are right and good but not enough. Perhaps the discontentment is a spiritual gift. As I encounter more frustration and more dissatisfaction with the way things are I begin to pray with more fervency and sincerity the prayer, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.” I fear that for some of us not only are we not able to sing those hymns, but worse, we have no need to. For the things of this world to grow “strangely dim” would be an awful thing.
For others of us, however, we continue to live with discontentment frustrated that we can’t just be happy with what we have and how we are living. You must probe your heart and investigate for yourself, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin within. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can some day be completely happy and rested in this life. If you find yourself without some inklings of a restlessness you may be in greater danger than you know. Divine discontentment is our gift to remind us that contentment only comes when we see Jesus face to face. Long for it each time you get frustrated and disappointed.
Update: If you’re still struggling with restlessness, as I often am, you might find this article interesting.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 