The Danger of Discontent

The Danger of Discontent

The Holy Spirit placed something on my heart recently that I have not been able to ignore. I never intended for this blog to turn into a “preaching” outlet. My intention was that it be used to dispel incorrect beliefs about the Word of God. However, since I never wanted to write a blog in the first place and only started one out of obedience to Him, then it really is not my decision as to what topics the Holy Spirit wants me to address.

We are going to look at the danger of being discontented. I suggest to you that being discontented is the most dangerous attribute a person can possess. Discontentment is the culprit for the fall from there the very beginning, so let’s start there. No, not with Adam and Eve frolicking naked in paradise, but with God and the angels.

Ezekiel 28:12-18; 12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You [were] the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone [was] your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 "You [were] the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You [were] perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, o covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. 18 "You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you.

Wow! Lucifer had it all didn’t he? But it just wasn’t enough. He wanted more. The Holy Spirit describes him as perfect in beauty and full of wisdom. He was covered in precious stones and could sing beautifully. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He was discontented. Now let’s see what Isaiah wrote.

Isaiah 14:12-14; 12"How you are fallen from heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'

Isaiah called Lucifer the son of the morning. That is a pretty impressive title. But it just wasn’t enough. He was discontented. Jesus also spoke about the fall of Satan.

Luke 10:18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Satan had it all; no worries, no lack, no taxes, no traffic, no USAID or government fraud (I had to stick that in there. 😊), no vaccines, no global warming, no heartbreaking losses for Texas A&M, no hunger, no death, no wars, no sickness or disease, no overdue bills, no hurricanes, floods, or tornadoes, no drivers camping out in the passing-only lane driving five miles per hour below the speed limit, no drunk uncles starting fights at the family barbecue, no corrupt politicians, no border crisis, no borders, nobody fishing in his favorite fishing hole, and the list goes on and on. But it wasn’t enough. He was discontented and he was the first to corrupt the perfection of heaven and creation.

Now let’s look at man. Adam and Eve lived in paradise. Adam and Eve were handmade by God himself. Eve had to be a 19.5 on a scale of 10, and she was always naked and there were no headaches. (That comment was for the guys reading this. Ya’ll know what I am talking about.) There was no lack. There was no sin and death. Eden was beautiful and the temperature was always perfectly comfortable. All the things I pointed out about Satan’s environment applied to Adam and Eve as well. There was only one rule; don’t eat from the one tree in the middle of the garden. They had to pass every other fruit-bearing tree in the garden just to get to that tree. I, myself, probably would have set my sleeping mat under a mango tree and never moved. They had everything and lacked nothing. But it just wasn’t enough. They were discontented. They wanted more.

I can understand how people in a fallen world can be discontented. We suffer lack of finances, health, time, etc. They did not. But the lack that we endure is not a lack of resources, it is a lack of trust in our heavenly Father. Satan, Adam, and Eve all believed that God was withholding something from them. None of them believed that God had their best interest at heart. They distrusted their Creator, the very One that built their minds and bodies. Who better than God would know what was best for them? He built them and wrote the manufacture’s manual. But they all believed He, out of selfishness, was keeping something from them. They did not trust that He wanted the best for them.

Fast forward to today. I am not condemning anyone. This message was given to me and for me by the Holy Spirit because I have not trusted God to meet all my needs. In my mind, I can never put enough money in savings. It’s never enough. Looming college expenses for two teenagers, future wedding expenses and other future financial requirements often weigh heavy on my mind. Why do I worry about those things? Because I have not completely surrendered my trust to the Lord, and I am discontented with my present income. We aren’t going to get into the topic of greed in this article. That is an entirely different kind of discontent and is not about need; greed is not need. I only used Satan, Adam, and Eve as an example to illustrate the dangers of being discontented. But discontent in need, is lacking faith that God will supply for all our needs like He promised. Let’s look at Jesus’ words.

Luke 11:2-3; 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

The disciples had just asked Jesus how to pray and this was His response. Jesus told them to ask God to meet their needs for the day they were in, not for future expenses. This was Jesus’ teaching. Did Jesus have a full-time job? No, he walked from town to town and did not pass a single Walmart. But God met all His needs. Not only did He feed the 5000 with just two fish and five loaves, but He did it with two fish and five loaves that Jesus didn’t even bring to the party. God supplied the seed AND made it grow. We have a tendency to worry about finances because we look at what we presently have and wonder if we can stretch it to meet demands. But Jesus showed up with nothing. Even the two fish and five loaves were provided for Him. We need to look to our Father in heaven to meet our needs, not our savings account. Let’s look at another passage.

Matthew 6:25-34; 25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, [will He] not much more [clothe] you, O you of little faith? 31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.

I don’t believe there is any reason to dissect that passage. It’s pretty much self-explanatory. In these few verses alone, Jesus said not to worry five times. I have not verified this, but I have heard that the Bible has 365 occurrences of the command (using different words) “fear not.” It must have been pretty important to God to say it that many times. Why do you think He would say that 365 times? Because He wants us to trust Him in everything. Satan, Adam and Eve, living in perfection without need, did not trust God, and they sinned. God wants us to trust Him in EVERY situation because lack of trust leads to behavior that does not honor God. If we don’t trust God to meet our financial needs, we might be tempted to cheat on our taxes or not go back and pay for that sack of potatoes that the clerk forgot to ring up. Why do people steal? Some do it out of greed, but others do it because they lack and don’t trust God to meet their needs. The WORD Says:

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

The Greek word in this verse is plēroō, and it means to make full, to fill up, to cause to abound, furnish, to supply liberally. Those are very “definite” words, not maybes.

Let’s look at an Old Testament example. Do you remember when the Israelites were in the desert and had no food? What did God do? He rained down bread from heaven to meet their needs, but there was one condition. They were told only to pick up enough for the day.

Exodus 16:14-18; 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, [as] fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw [it], they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it [was]. And Moses said to them, "This [is] the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. 16 "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, [according to the] number of persons; let every man take for [those] who [are] in his tent.' " 17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured [it] by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need.

Why did God make that rule? Because He wanted them to learn to trust Him to provide every single day. That is the easy moral of the story. But let’s go deeper than that. God made that rule so that when He met their needs every day, it would be a constant reminder that they were ALWAYS on His mind. God provided the bread to sustain them in the desert. Later, He would send down His Son, the bread of life, to provide for all our needs, even to securing our future in glory.

I grew up poor, according to American standards, not worldly standards. That being said, I have always worried about money. But for the last several months, God has been working on me to be content. I’m not discontented because I want more things, but because I want to provide for my children better than my parents were able to provide for me. Both of my parents made great sacrifices for all four of their children, but they did not have much. Anyway, the Holy Spirit said to me one day, “Alex, if you worry that much about money, then you trust what money can do for you more than you trust what God can do for you.”  OUCH! That was a dagger in my heart. Since then, every time the enemy brings up a financial need that tends to lead to worry, I try to remember what the Holy Spirit said to me and dwell on that instead of what the enemy wants me to worry about. I remind myself that my loving Father in heaven owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). I’ll wrap up this article with a few verses to meditate on if you struggle with trusting God to meet all of your needs.

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:7-8; 7 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen [do]. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

Psalm 37:3-4; 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 34:8-10; 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD [is] good; Blessed [is] the man [who] trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! [There is] no want to those who fear Him. 10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good [thing].

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God doesn’t get mad at you when you come to him with needs. He doesn’t say, “You again? Didn’t you just ask me for something last week?” No, that is not our heavenly Father. In fact, it dishonors Him when we try to meet all our own needs without Him. He wants to be a part of every aspect of your life, and nothing honors Him more than for you to know that He loves you so much that He will provide for all your needs. So be content. There will be enough of God’s grace for tomorrow when you get there. If being discontent was enough to wreck perfection in heaven and bring sin into a perfect world, imagine the harm it can do in a fallen world. Satan, Adam, and Eve all saw the glory of God, and discontent caused them to fall away. Imagine what it can do to those of us that have yet to see His glory. He sees you, He loves you, and He SHALL supply all of your needs.

I hope this helps. Jesus loves you.