Is there anything in your life that you are dissatisfied about? Maybe you would like to lose a few pounds, get a better job, have more money in the bank. Or maybe you wish you had a nicer car, a better spouse, a bigger house, a new putter, a bass boat. Dissatisfaction is common to all of us. There is no one on the planet who has not experienced it at some point in their life. Why is this, and what does it tell us about ourselves. How are we supposed to handle dissatisfaction in our life?
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” (Genesis 3:1-7)
In the Garden of Eden, they had it made. There was no disease, no wars, no death, plenty to eat and drink – a veritable paradise, literally. And the serpent comes along and says, “Well what about that tree? You say you have it all and can do anything you want, but you can’t eat from that tree over there. Are you really okay with that?” They are living the dream life, and yet he manages to get them to focus on the one thing they cannot do, eat from a specific tree. Eventually that is all they can think about, the one thing they don’t have, and it grows into sinful thoughts and ideas, which lead to sinful action. The rest of the story is possibly the most famous story in the world.
Dissatisfaction is one of the seeds that can grow into sin in our lives if we allow it. It is also one of the evidences that we would have sinned just as Adam and Eve did. We could be living in Paradise, and still find something wrong, something to complain about, something to be discontent about, something negative to focus on, just as they did. Even those of us who are living in the ‘first world’ (vs. the ‘third world’) find things to be dissatisfied about. On the show “Rules of Engagement”, one of the characters is trying to watch TV and his signal goes out. He sticks his head out the window, looks up at the sky shaking his fist, and yells, “How hard can it be to keep a satellite in geosynchronous orbit and beam a signal to my dish?” ‘First world’ problems – funny story, but also sad and true for many of us.
This is not to say that there are not things we should be dissatisfied with, like injustice, crime, war, hatred, violence, human trafficking, child abuse, type 2 diabetes, personal disobedience to God, etc. We should be dissatisfied with and do something about things like this. Martin Luther King was dissatisfied with inequality in the United States, and he did something about it. Joni Eareckson Tada was dissatisfied with her paralysis and chose to deal with it properly. That is not what we are talking about here. This is more about the things in our life that rob us of our joy and can grow into sin if we allow them to continue to grow in us. It is about dissatisfaction with God, His provision, and His direction in our lives, and how we choose to handle it, what our response is to the dissatisfaction in our life.
We are dissatisfied with our spouse, so we have an affair, for example. We are dissatisfied with our weight, so it drives us to become anorexic or bulimic. We are dissatisfied with our bank account, so we become a workaholic. These are examples of dissatisfaction leading to sin. When we choose to handle dissatisfaction incorrectly, we fall into the same sin that Adam and Eve committed in the Garden. We focus on the one thing that we can’t have, can’t do, etc….one thing that bothers us, rather than the hundreds of things that are wonderful and great. This seed of discontent, if left in the soil of our lives, can grow into sinful thoughts and actions that can destroy our lives and the lives of those around us. This type of dissatisfaction must be dealt with before it bears fruit.
Dissatisfaction of this type is also a sign that we do not trust that God has our best interest at heart. We think that He is holding back on us, keeping us from enjoying something with the boundaries that He sets for our lives. His boundaries are there to enable us to get the most out of life, not to cause us to miss it, but all we can see is the tree we are not supposed to eat of. Sure, sin may be fun at first – so is heroin use. But in the end, sin brings death and destruction into our lives. It brings pain and misery, bondage and addiction, sickness and heartache. Sin never delivers as promised, it always delivers the opposite of what we think it will provide. We think it will provide freedom, but really it leads to slavery. We think it will make us happy, but it delivers pain and suffering. Promising freedom, it lands us in jail.
Dissatisfaction with God, His provision, and His direction for our lives is often the root of sin in our lives. What one or two things are you dissatisfied with in your life today? How important is it, in the grand scheme of things? What sinful action might this dissatisfaction drive you to commit? Is that something you want in your life? Play that movie out and see how it ends. Is that how you want your life to go, how you want to finish your time here on earth, how you want your story to read? What is the proper way to deal with this dissatisfaction in your life?
What sinful thoughts is this dissatisfaction creating? List all of the good things related to this situation, the things that you are satisfied with. Compare the number of things you are satisfied with to the number of things you are dissatisfied with? How is this dissatisfaction tied to not trusting God? What is something you can do to defuse this situation, and become satisfied rather than discontent. How can you bring this dissatisfaction “Captive to the Obedience of Christ”? How will being thankful for the many blessing you do have affect this dissatisfaction?
We see another outworking of improperly handling dissatisfaction in the story of Cain and Abel. Picking up the story after they had both made offerings to God:
“And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”” (Genesis 4:4-7)
Both of them knew God, had a relationship with Him, and brought their offerings to Him. If the story were recent, we might say they were both priests or pastors. Cain was not some renegade, he knew God personally, had conversations with Him. And yet he handled his dissatisfaction with God improperly, and it grew into sin. He would not repent and deal with the reason his “countenance was fallen”, but rather let his dissatisfaction grow into murder.
This illustrates to us that often dissatisfaction reveals to us things that we need to change, areas where we need to grow, idols we need to remove. What are the things in your life that you are dissatisfied about, that you are not dealing with? Where in your life are you not obeying God’s word? What sin do you need to repent of? What is something you are jealous about in someone else’s life? What are one or two things that you should be dissatisfied about, areas where you need to “do well” so that your “countenance will be lifted”? What change(s) do you need to make in your life to avoid a Cain and Abel incident in your life? What idol in your life does this dissatisfaction reveal to you?
Sin is crouching at the door of our lives when we are dissatisfied and discontent with God, His direction, and His provision for us. Dissatisfaction led to the fall of humanity when Adam and Eve let it take root and grow in their hearts and minds rather than dealing with it. Cain was dissatisfied with God’s response to his offering, and it led to Abel’s murder. How we handle dissatisfaction is really important. It can be an opportunity for obedience to God and spiritual growth, or a doorway for Satan to come into our lives and completely wreck them. When handled incorrectly, it can distort our thinking, rob us of our joy, causing us to be discontent even when we find ourselves living in paradise. Ultimately it will lead to sin.
Dissatisfaction is a complicated subject. An entire book could be written on this topic and how to handle it. It can encourage us to grow towards God thru obedience, or to grow away from God thru sin. When we fail to see what God is revealing to us in our dissatisfaction it can drive us to self-destructive behavior. I urge you to count your blessings today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Be thankful in all things. Put on a heart of gratitude. Don’t let dissatisfaction steal your joy and destroy your life. When appropriate, be content with the story that God has you in, and with the provision He has provided for you, lest you fall into the sin of Adam and Eve. And take to heart the things you should be dissatisfied with, and act on them appropriately, lest you repeat the story of Cain and Abel.
When we are dissatisfied, we face a fork in the road of our lives. The same dissatisfaction can drive us to sin, or drive us to repent, depending on what we choose to do about it. Cain chose to kill his brother rather than repenting and dealing with his issues that were displeasing to God. Adam and Eve chose to eat of the tree instead of trusting that God has their best interest at heart. When we trust in our own understanding of a situation rather than trusting what God says about it, we are doing the same thing they did. Dissatisfaction is one of the ways God speaks to us and pushes us to grow. It can reveal idols in our life that we need to remove. It tests our faith, tests our willingness to be obedient to God and his word, tests whether or not we really do trust God.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
Proverbs 3:5-6 clearly tells us that when we have dissatisfaction in our life, if we will trust God and choose to be satisfied with His provision and direction on how to handle our dissatisfaction, our life will go much better for us. Are you trusting God, or is dissatisfaction growing in your heart and mind in a sinful way?
Lord God Almighty, I come before you in Jesus name, and confess that I am often dissatisfied with things in my life. Even though I have it made, I find myself focusing on the one or two things I do not have or cannot do, letting them rob me of my joy and drive my behavior towards sinful thoughts and actions. I repent of this now, and ask for Your forgiveness. I commit to focus on the many blessings I have, rather than the one or two things I am dissatisfied with. Help me to “do well” as You counseled Cain, so that my “countenance may be lifted up”. Teach me to take control and counter these negative thoughts and ideas with Your word, as Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness. Help me to remember that I am living in Your great story, and that Your provision for me is perfect, and Your boundaries for me are there to enable me to live the best life possible, to live the life You created me to live. Reveal to me the idol that lies beneath the dissatisfaction I am dealing with, and help me to remove it from my life. Teach me to live as a child of God, seeing You as my Father, trusting in You completely in every way, as a young child trusts its parents. I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
Pslam 103
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