I hear people say that they are content. What I like to do is ask questions until I find an area where they are not content. It renews my faith in mankind and validates my belief that none of us are ever meant to be content. None of us. Discontent or discontented have taken a bad rap over the years and yet we require discontent to rock us out of the rut our lives become from time to time. The contented seem to be on an old muddy road with deep tracks to follow. The tracks are so deep that the vehicle doesn't drag on the ground but deep enough that people can't seem to find a way to get out of the rut. Having given up, they remain in their dilemma not making movement in any direction. I can't say that I can remember my life before or after I received Christ has ever had any ruts at all. I can't remember that being true of my experiences with my PTSD and other issues that seem to follow me everywhere I run to in order to escape them. This is negative discontent. I'd like to focus on positive discontent.
At first glance the phrase "positive discontent" seems like it makes no sense. One word opposed to the other. However, the deeper meaning and implication is there also waiting to be discovered. I am content in where I am (for the most part) but not content enough to stay there. So I look forward to what tomorrow has for me. Concepts and beliefs are seen as transitory at best and treacherous at their worst. If you don't take a chance you will never know. I believe I do NOT know everything nor have I experienced everything. God says so and I believe it. I don't want to be found professing myself wise only to prove that I'm a fool. Being content does just that. Being in the place of positive discontent lends towards ones vision and determination to go on regardless what the rest of the world may be doing. This applies equally to those who follow God to those who follow the world.
Other peoples stereotypes of me frustrate them. It's not my monkey and not my circus. People who find themselves frustrated with me are really frustrated with themselves. It's not that I have arrived but that I'm on the journey. Many Christians believe they are on the journey while they really are on the plane waiting for take off. I'm not sure what all is responsible for my desiring the positive discontented life. I can guess that it was the abuse on various level over the years. But it's only a guess. The answer to the "cause" isn't the issue for me. That would make me content. It's like saying I'm a sinner with no desire to change that state. The past "IS". The past can either keep us in bondage or it can teach us lessons. Paul puts it this way, "Not counting the past I push forward toward the goal which is Christ Jesus." (my paraphrase in case you try to look it up!). Jesus also tells me that when I ask for forgiveness that it's done. Period. The Bible tells us that God forgives us our sins and "remembers them no more." Further, God says he "casts our sin away from him as far as east is to west." He didn't say north to south because they have ends. You get the point.
William James once said, "We may have a God in Heaven that forgives us our sin but mankind does not." Wow! The biggest battle for me is forgiving myself. The second biggest battle for me is forgiving others. Neither of these foster the life of positive discontent. We need to forgive. Enough said. We need to live. Enough said. We need to have a vision. Not enough said. The Bible tells me that "without a vision the people perish." We live amongst a world with no vision. We live in a world of contentment with their belief that they are entitled. That leaves the world running their lives instead of the other way around. Heaven help them and heaven help us.
What it comes down to is this; we choose. It's that simple. We choose whether we live in the past content on the prison it represents or whether we have a vision for our future that puts us in the place of positive discontented living. Most days my level of discontent is high. The higher the better. Why? Because discontent, positive discontent, begs me to move forward with my life. The higher the level of discontent the less I am focused on the past. The less I am focused on the past the more I deny it's hold on me. The less the hold on me, the more freedom in Christ I encounter. The more I find Christs desire for me, the more I want. What's your level of positive discontent? Have you taken the step to living in that state of positive discontent. Don't be content. It's not Biblical and not what God wants for you.
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