God you owe me...
Have we ever said this in one fashion or another? Stop for just a moment to assess your motivation behind that thought. At first, it is possible that we just want something a little bit better than what we have because what we have gives us troubles, such as a poorly running automobile. It might be we want a matching suit of clothes instead of the second-hand stuff we are wearing. Or perhaps it is the sinking feeling that we aren't going to get as much in our stocking this year at the holiday season as someone else will. Regardless of the motivation, the root of the motivation is discontentment - we haven't really accepted the blessings we have been given. We are not content with what we have been given or will receive in the near future - believing "something else" will be more satisfying or rewarding may be sort of naive on our part.
We may believe there is something "unfair" when others are blessed in ways we may have wanted to be blessed ourselves. Some of us have kids who love us and are actively engaged in our lives. What we may want is for our kids to call more often, be less dependent upon us for financial support at some point, or to produce us some grandchildren because all our other friends have some. Others have strained relations with their loved ones. The one who has that strained relationship with their children might just long for nothing more than the immediate restoration of that relationship above all these other things that give us such discontent. Discontentment often discounts the circumstances of the other person, my friends. When we learn to see life through the eyes of the other person, we often realize just how blessed we are and how much we should want to share that same blessing with the others God has placed in our lives!
Have we ever said this in one fashion or another? Stop for just a moment to assess your motivation behind that thought. At first, it is possible that we just want something a little bit better than what we have because what we have gives us troubles, such as a poorly running automobile. It might be we want a matching suit of clothes instead of the second-hand stuff we are wearing. Or perhaps it is the sinking feeling that we aren't going to get as much in our stocking this year at the holiday season as someone else will. Regardless of the motivation, the root of the motivation is discontentment - we haven't really accepted the blessings we have been given. We are not content with what we have been given or will receive in the near future - believing "something else" will be more satisfying or rewarding may be sort of naive on our part.
We may believe there is something "unfair" when others are blessed in ways we may have wanted to be blessed ourselves. Some of us have kids who love us and are actively engaged in our lives. What we may want is for our kids to call more often, be less dependent upon us for financial support at some point, or to produce us some grandchildren because all our other friends have some. Others have strained relations with their loved ones. The one who has that strained relationship with their children might just long for nothing more than the immediate restoration of that relationship above all these other things that give us such discontent. Discontentment often discounts the circumstances of the other person, my friends. When we learn to see life through the eyes of the other person, we often realize just how blessed we are and how much we should want to share that same blessing with the others God has placed in our lives!
Riches and honor come from you.
You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand!
And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful!
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Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name!
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All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.
(I Chronicles 29:12-14 ERV)
Discontentment takes many forms, but at the root of it all, we desire "more" or "different". We want shinier, bigger, newer, and the list goes on. In God's eyes, maybe the one thing we need "more" of is him. God's hope is that we will acknowledge his desires in our lives, seeing them as the only thing that really brings contentment and fulfillment. Discontent gets us looking externally. Contentment is found first inwardly, in the grace of God working in our hearts and minds. Then it gives blossom externally in the giving of ourselves to one another in love and gratitude for the many blessings we have been given in each other. Just sayin!
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