Dealing With DiscontentmentSýnishorn

One of the biggest challenges that we face in today’s society is discontentment. Merriam-Webster defines discontentment as the condition of being dissatisfied with one’s life or situation. The gateway for discontentment is often comparison. Technological advances have contributed to this increase in comparison and discontentment, mainly through social media, where we have access to the lives of millions of people at our fingertips. Instead of only seeing the lives of our neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends, we now can compare our lives to millions of people who only show the highlights of their lives.

Seeing the lives of others who have bought houses, cars, got married, had children, etc., often causes us to question what God has and is doing for us. We frequently have this distorted lens because we believe and pray for the very thing we see others having. We think they have the life we want, the material things we desire, and this comparison trap leads us to discontentment. As President Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” The enemy would love nothing more than for us to continue to be trapped by comparison and be discontent with our lives because of the adverse effects it has on our relationship with God.

It is not until we acknowledge and reverse this unhealthy pattern that we understand that discontentment is an invitation to give God glory. Jesus provides us with an example of how we should address this worry of not seeing God in our lives in Matthew 6 when he points out the birds who neither sow nor reap, yet God takes care of them. In this example, he invites the disciples to ponder whether we are more valuable than them.

Through this Bible plan, I hope to provide some hope for anyone dealing with discontentment and how we can address it through the Word of God. Over the next few days, we will explore examples of discontentment and provide some practical steps to deal with feelings of discontentment.