Holy Dissatisfaction

Holy Dissatisfaction

"Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18

You've been there I am sure. There is that longing in your spirit that you want more. There is a yearning for something far better, something deeper. You are hungry and it is hunger that keeps getting more intense. Snacking doesn't take it away. You want MORE!

If that has happened to you, then today's thoughts from Dr. Glyn Evans will put it into perspective for you:

I will practice the art of holy dissatisfaction. God deals only in holy, not unholy dissatisfaction. This means dissatisfaction in spirit, not in flesh. Jesus refereed to this as being "poor in spirit," and the result of this poverty is to receive the "kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3)

The Bible is full of dissatisfied holy people. I am sure that Abraham left Ur because of the emptiness of worship of the moon goddess Ishtar. David built his kingdom on men who were tired of Saul's arrogance; his collection of men "in distress ... in debt, and ... discontented" (I Samuel 22:2) was the raw material for his empire.

The disciples of John the Baptist, and later Jesus' disciples, were men who were tired of this world's politics of greed and selfishness; they longed to see God's kingdom in operation on this earth. No matter where I look in church history, I see a trail of dissatisfied men and women who longed for higher, better things. They sought and found a spiritual ideal, and left a spiritual empire behind them.

Holy dissatisfaction always begins with God and ends with God. I can be easily dissatisfied about THINGS -- politics, money, the world situation -- but that is usually selfish, and it leads nowhere.

But HOLY dissatisfaction begins with me, in my spirit; it sees poverty there, and then it begins the quest for satisfaction that must lead to God. I will never be much of a disciple unless I have felt this kind of dissatisfaction; the greater the dissatisfaction, the stronger my discipleship.

I need to keep asking myself, Are you satisfied? If I answer yes there is a sense in which I have become my own obstacle to a flourishing discipleship for Jesus Christ. On the other hand, when I "mourn, I have HIS comforts, and when I "hunger and thirst" I have HIS filling.

As I read this devotional this morning, Bill and Gloria Gaither's little praise chorus was running through my mind:

More of You more of You

I've had all but what I need

Just more of You

Of things I've had my fill

And yet I hunger still

Empty and bare

Lord hear my prayer

For more of You

CCLI Song No. 15111© 1977 William J. Gaither, Inc. Christian Grit Music Press ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin TN 37067)Gary S. Paxton Gloria Gaither William J. GaitherFor use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.comCCLI License No. 1301252

Are you dissatisfied today? Hungry for more of Him? If so, run to Him today. Allow Him to fill you with more of HIM! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 22; Esther 6-8; Acts 6

Dig This Quote: John Paton was making a translation of the Scriptures into a language spoken in the country where he was a missionary, and searched long for the world for "Faith". The natives had no word for "believe" One day, while working on his translation, a native entered his room, exhausted and flung himself down on the nearest chair, and placed his feet on the chair across from him. The native remarked how good it was to lean his whole weight into that chair. Dr Paton noted the word he had used for "lean his whole weight." He had his word for "believe". John G. Paton

Determined Digging: Level 1 -- Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 -- Psalm 96:1-9