I was sick with a cold last week and couldn’t bring myself to write anything worth reading. I’m better now and back to writing every week! That’s my goal anyway…
In other news: I’d like to write a Q & A post answering some of your questions at the beginning of April. If you have questions you’d like me to answer, share them in the comments or on your favorite social network with the hashtag #AsktheInvalid.
As Christians we’re encouraged to be content in all circumstances (see Philippians 4:10-13). I don’t know how or why, but, for the most part, God has given me the grace to be content despite the difficult situations I sometimes find myself in. Being a perfectionist, I’m also very familiar with feelings of discontentment. I’m always striving to improve my character, my skills, my performance. Pushed to the extreme, this leads to feelings of depression, worthlessness and self-loathing as I continually fail to reach my own insurmountable standards. That’s what I would call unproductive discontentment. I firmly believe that God calls us to be content in all circumstances because He gives us everything we need. I also believe that sometimes God plants seeds of discontentment to propel us forward.
Sin itself is unfulfilling. It might be exhilarating in the moment, but the aftermath always leaves a trail of regret. Sometimes that’s enough to help us confess and repent. Other times we need a little more motivation. In my experience, that’s where productive discontentment comes in. Maybe I’ve started to justify or rationalize a pattern of sin. Maybe I keep returning to destructive thoughts or selfish motivations. Soon my life begins to feel overwhelmingly empty and I begin to question my worth. I feel unsatisfied, useless, uninspired. I’m woefully discontent. And that’s right where God wants me. He uses my discontentment to inspire repentance. I finally see the error in my ways and turn back to Him, humbly accepting His grace
Sometimes God uses our discontentment to draw us into His destiny. He’s calling us to something and wants us to start moving in the right direction. I believe God is using my discontentment with being single to drive me toward finding a girlfriend and, eventually, a wife. Now, God could easily make the girl of my dreams fall into my lap at any moment, but I don’t think that’s how this is going to work. He wants to partner with me, guiding and directing me to the woman He has in mind. And that requires me to get to work praying and meeting people, and getting others involved by having them pray and make introductions, Let me pause to say this: I don’t believe in the idea that God has pre-ordained one person to be my mate or created one woman to “complete me”. Sure, He did that for Adam when He created Eve, but I believe my “Eve” might be one of several people.
You might be saying, “What if this isn’t God’s destiny for you? What if things don’t work out?” Whether I meet my future wife tomorrow or live out the rest of my days alone, productive discontentment will always draw me closer to God. And that’s what God wants most for me: to love Him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Above all else, only God can satisfy my discontentment.