If you’ve spent any amount of time in church, you’ve probably heard incredible messages on the power of contentment. Familiar passages include Hebrews 13:5, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” It is true that God wants us to rest in the care and provisions that He gives to us every single day.
There is also, however, a positive form of discontent. This productive discontent drives change. It’s the inner disgust for the way things are. It’s the fuel that ignites us to make the necessary progress in specific areas of our lives–such as our relationship with God, our career, our marriage, and our finances.
After hearing of the condition of the wall of Jerusalem and also hearing of the horrible conditions of the Jewish people, Nehemiah 1:4 says, “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of Heaven.” He wasn’t okay with how things were. He proceeded to allow that productive discontent to drive him to the action of repairing the walls. Thomas Edison said, “Restlessness is discontent – and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I’ll show you a failure.”
Here are three ways that I believe we can use our discontent to productively jumpstart a breakthrough of our status quo:
1. Get honest with yourself.
Be honest–the reason you haven’t changed is because you’re okay with the way things are. You don’t mind:
~ being stressed about money
~ living in a perpetual state of anxiety
~ carrying around the extra weight
~ being late all the time
~ having a house that is messy
We won’t change until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of change. You must get to the point that you’ve had enough. You will no longer tolerate what has been happening in your life.
2. Play the movie.
I learned this principle from Dr. Henry Cloud in his book, 9 Things You Simply Must Do. We have to ask ourselves, “If I stay on this course, how will the story end?”
~ If I talk to my spouse the way I do…divorce.
~If I spend money at the rate I’m spending…bankruptcy.
~ If I eat what I’m eating…diabetes, health issues.
We have to play out our current actions into the future, and then we have to allow the discontent over what we see to drive us to make necessary changes.
3. Stay clear on what you want to see.
It’s been said that, “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.” It produces productive discontent to make changes. This is the power of goal setting. Some people write down their goals, while others create vision boards. Whatever your method, the point is to keep your desired outcome before you.
Will you embrace the productive discontent over your current situation and allow it to drive the necessary changes in your life?
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