Striving Against The Lord

Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

Previously, we had spoken on contentment and how important it is in our lives but now it’s time to share about discontentment and the adverse affect it has on us.

When we are discontented with what is happening in our lives we tell the Lord that He has no right to govern our lives. We show forth an attitude like we know more than God does. When our children complain because they don’t get what they want we keep back special things from them until they are willing to have an attitude of gratefulness towards us. It’s not that we don’t want to give it to them but we can’t afford to give it to them when they gripe about what they feel they are entitled to instead of being thankful for what they have. A child always indulged is an ungrateful child.

The same can be said of us. If we are always indulged in what we feel is right then we will show forth an attitude of discontentment. When that happens, the Lord may say to us, “That’s fine so now I will give you all you demand since My wise bestowments aren’t good enough for you.” He then may step back and we could fall into a time of living on the back of the desert until we are ready to humble ourselves before the Lord. It’s important for us to realize that He places each thing in our lives for a very good reason, some of which we may never know about.

I’m always interested in the book by John Bunyan called Pilgrim’s Progress. When our boys were little, my husband would read it to them periodically with his myriad of voices. At one section of the story, Christian was at the house of the interpreter. There were two children sitting and waiting. One was very impatient and the other sat quietly. The one who was impatient received gifts and mocked the child who waited patiently.

The interpretation went something like this, “The child who was impatient refused to wait and received his gifts first and so mocked the child who waited patiently. The child waiting patiently would receive his gifts but they would be, by far, the better gifts. He who goes first soon uses up his gifts and must give way to he who goes last. The last would then be first and none takes his place because he is the last.”

In Philippians 1:28-29 we are reminded that we will be persecuted for doing right and in John 16:1-3, the person who kills us will feel like he’s doing a great service to God for so doing. This is our lot in life and persecution may not be that bad now but it could very well grow worse. Let us check our spirit daily and if we find ourselves growing discontented with our lot in life let us seek forgiveness and adjust our attitude to a grateful one. May our lives show the Lord that we are content under His wise bestowments.