A God Who Cannot Be Content

In the past few months, I have begun to notice a pattern that exists in my life. And that is that I ask my mom for advice or suggestions on certain things in my life...and never take the advice she provides. I come to her and whine about how I sore I am after a run, but fail to drink more water and take ibuprofen like she recommends. I come to her and give her a list of ways I do not feel well, but never heed her advice to go to the doctor. I come to her stressed because I feel overwhelmed, but dismiss her suggestion that I re-prioritize and say no to some things in my life. I come to her discontented with my life, but fail to respond when she shows me the way to contentment.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that "To ask that God's love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God". The truth is that when I come to my mom asking her advice, what I really want her to tell me is that whatever I am doing is good enough. That I don't need to change. That my inactive approach is sufficient. But in her great love and wisdom, she can never do that. She has to express the ways I need to change. She has to tell me the truth of how to fix my problems.

And I think that we do this with God. We come before him and give him a lengthy list of the ways that we are discontented. We explain our struggles in making certain decisions, in getting more out of prayer, in knowing what to do with our lives, and in handling certain relationships. We come and explain our restlessness, our feelings of unworthiness, our inabilities to trust him, and our weaknesses in faith. And when we truly listen, we hear God providing us a way to contentment and to greater peace. But that way always involves a change--in heart, in lifestyle, in perspective, in priorities--and that change is a pill that is hard for us to swallow.

Sometimes, I think that my faith life is a perpetual cycle of God saying to me "I told you so". Not that God is vindictive or pompous, but that in his great love and wisdom he is continually calling me to trust that he is Lord. And I hear him saying to me, "I told you you'd be happier. I told you trusting me would be hard, but would be worth it. I told you my grace is sufficient. I told you my love can conquer all". So today, let us be confident in that. Let us be bold enough to come before God with our struggles and our discontentment and truly listen to the way he promises to lead us into contentment. Let us beg the Holy Spirit to strip us of our pride that we may unreservedly respond to this God who cannot be content with our discontent.