Stress of Discontent

Ice Breaker:

Life would be sweet if I was driving a _____________________

I surely would not mind swapping places with ________________ for a week.

This somewhat silly exercise reminds us that we all have aspirations that are not being met in the present. This is both normal and expected. However, sometimes we become so invested and focused on what we don’t have that we lose the joy of the present. This “out-of-control” discontent can fill our lives with stress and sour our relationships with all those around us.

The Stress of Unfulfilled Expectations: The Stress of Discontent


In-Class Exercise: Please read the following scriptures. Do any of them speak to you in a powerful way about the nature of contentment … and how to find it?

Scriptures

Philippians 4:10-13: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Hebrews 13: 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

I Timothy 6: 6 – 8: But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Psalm 63: 1 – 3: O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my body longs for your in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your live is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

2 Corinthians 4: 7 - 8: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Philippians 3:7-8: But whatever ws to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus m Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

Matthew 6: 19-21: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


In the outline below, I provide you with a summary of the didactic on discontent from the text. Please review and prepare comments that you are willing to share with the class on how these observations dovetail with your experiences.

Read and Respond:

Contentment is not complacency
· Contentment does not mean we don’t pursue goals and seek change
· Contentment does not mean that you don’t have a preference


Contentment allows for disappointment:
· Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:8: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair.
· In the midst of contentment we can be disappointed and we can grieve
· However, contentment does mean we are not mobilized by despair


Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have versus what I should have.


Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have now versus what I once had.



Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have versus what others have.



Contentment does not depend upon circumstances


Contentment is the fruit of perspective
· Phillipians 1:20, 2: 16-17
· Phillipians 3:20
· Phillipians 3:7-8
· Phillipians 1:15-18


Contentment is learned behavior

The text provides a summary in terms of these Life Change Lessons:
· Make a list of unfulfilled goals and accept disappointment … but do not slip into despair. [Being content is not pretending that everything is the way you wish it would be, it is not acting as though you have no wishes. Rather, it is no longer being ruled by your desires. (John Eldredge)]
· Make a list of new goals based on current circumstances.
· Celebrate the special people, places, and moments in your life.