Defeating Discontentment

I had just listened to an excellent lecture on contentment from the annual Shepherd’s Conference in California via Live Feed.  “This is great,” I thought, “...if I struggled with discontentment.”  Famous last words.

The next day, guess what I found myself struggling with? Discontentment.  Not discontentment regarding possessions, but discontentment regarding authority.  This discontentment could also be titled “a proud rejection of authority.” Ouch!  While I wasn't stomping around the house actively displaying my rejection of authority, my tone of voice and my thoughts showed that I was indeed rejecting the authority God has wisely placed over me—my parents.  By wishing I was further down the road of freedom than I am, I was essentially telling God, “God, I know You have great plans for me and that Your plans are best.  But right now I don’t trust that You know what You’re doing. Instead I want to trust myself. I think I should be further down this road than where I am right now.” 

Have you ever felt this way?

There’s nothing like sin to show you how weak you actually are apart from God.  I can identify well with what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’

God has chosen me, a weak vessel, clay in the Potter’s hand (Jeremiah 18:6), to boast in Him (1 Cor. 1:31, Psalm 34:2).  He has chosen me to display His greatness to the watching world through my weaknesses.  I have many.  Thank God that He has a redemptive purpose in my weakness!

I know that I will sin.  That’s a fact.  I know that I will stumble with submission and contentment again—perhaps many times.  Instead of getting depressed about the fact that I’m a sinner, I can actively fight this sin and rejoice in God’s forgiveness. That’s not to say that I’m okay with continually sinning because I will be forgiven—by no means (in the words of Paul--Romans 7:15-25)!  It’s to say that when I stumble, I can repent and hop back on my feet, eager to respond in the right way the next time.  But, in order for this to happen, I need a plan.

First of all, I identified the root of this sin—pride.  It’s the root of many other sins as well.  If you find yourself struggling with the same sin over and over, you probably haven’t gotten to the root of it.  Dig down deep.  Find that root, no matter how painful it is.  You must dig it out of your heart and fill in the hole with biblical truth and biblical thinking. 

After identifying the root of the sin, I must actively battle against it.  I pray about submission to authority in my morning quiet times.  When Paul says to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11), he’s not kidding!  If I’m not prepared with a plan against the devil’s tactics, I am sure to lose.  During the day, when faced with an area where I need to submit, I pray.  This could mean praying silently before confronted, or if I’m really struggling, actually excusing myself during the confrontation to pray alone.  When my heart is ready, I come back and hear the area that needs to be addressed.  Hopefully my prayer time will have prepared my heart to willingly receive my parents’ loving advice.  But if not, back on my knees.  Have you noticed a pattern here?  Prayer?  If I’m actively talking to God, I cannot also be actively communing with the devil, listening to his tactics and lies.

What sin are you struggling with right now?  I encourage you to make yourself a plan of how you will fight this particular sin.  Write it on a piece of paper.  Stick it in your prayer journal.  Pray about it in the morning before heading off to school or work.  Commune with God during the day so you will be prepared the next time you need to deal with it.  Don’t passively fight this sin—engage it actively. (1 Peter 2:1)

Isn’t it merciful of God to use weak vessels? Like me? Like you?  If He only used perfect ones, I would have no hope.  But thank God for His free grace that He lavishes on us (Proverbs 28:13, Ephesians 2:3-5, Job 33:27-30)!  Thank God for salvation!

May you be filled with God’s grace as you actively battle sin.  May we, weak clay vessels in the Potter’s hand, only boast in our Lord Jesus Christ!

KD (High School Senior)