Discontentment does funny things to me. Like turn me into a greedy, ungrateful pig.
Point in case: my budget. There are times when money is a teensy bit on the tight side. My bank account starts running thin, and the McDonald’s value menu starts to look like a little bit of heaven. You’ve all been there.
You would think that when things get tight I would become more grateful for the things that I already have. But that’s not what happens. Instead, my discontented heart latches on to the one or two things I can’t buy because of budget restrictions.
I’m living in a wonderful house. I’ve got the best wife, baby girl, mom and dad, brothers and sister, and dogs (okay scratch the dogs) in the world. I have ten Bibles in my house. I have enough money to keep my daughter full of nutritious food. I have clean water. Above anything else, I have the gospel. Salvation. Fellowship with the living God.
But in the heat of discontentment, I don’t give a rip about any of these things. Instead, I become fixated on the one or two things I can’t have. Instead of bursting with gratefulness to God, I’m shriveling up with self-centered discontent.
Thomas Watson put it well when he said:
…our hearts are more discontented at one loss than thankful for a hundred mercies. God has plucked one branch of grapes from you, but how many precious clusters are left behind?
So what’s the solution for my mutinous, discontented heart? I need to spend time pondering the mercies of God. To reflect on the gospel and all the blessings that I’ve received in the gospel. To give thanks for all that I have received.
Discontentment doesn’t grow well in the soil of thankfulness. Let’s cultivate the soil of thankfulness today.
What about you? Can you relate to my discontented frenzy?
+photo by jere-me
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Written by Stephen Altrogge
Topics: The Secret of Contentment