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Purpose
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The purpose of these email reflections is to stimulate the God-given longing we all have for that which is truly life-giving, and to encourage sacrificing the lesser, more immediate "satisfactions" for the greater, in all areas of life, so that one may Live and share that Life with others!
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Contact information
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Contact Email
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Phone: (574) 533-2812
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Hello ,
The previous email addressed the issue of being content whatever the circumstances. This issue looks at the issue of how our discontent, properly dealt with,can work for our good.
- Sheldon Swartz
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Using Our Discontent to Allow God to Change Us
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 "Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened . . ." - Jesus
(Matthew 7:7)
Why would people ask for anything if they are perfectly content with what they have? Obviously Jesus' invitation here presumes desire for something that one does not have and that unmet desire provides the motivation for asking, seeking, and knocking; in other words, going after what one wants.
Because discontent is painful, it is possible to seek contentment simply because we don't want to risk going after what would more richly satisfy our souls. "I'm happy with where I am and with what I have" can be based on fear of acknowledging the risk of tuning in to our hearts more honestly. We may encounter longings that we don't have the power to fulfill. That would leave us out of control and exposed, and we may think that is dangerous. So we settle, whether in our relationship with God, spouses, children, parents, friends, neighbors. We try to be happy with dog food (tasty filler), or perhaps hamburger, when we are made for steak.
God made us for a perfect world, and we're not there yet! Made in God's image, we are born with a longing for all that is good. Why would we settle for less than that?
So courageously choose to acknowledge the disappoint- ment you feel in even the best of your relationships. Be aware of the gap between the way things are and what you long for. Let it hurt - it means you are alive and perhaps more well than you think!
But then, instead of moving away from the pain in that gap, let it move you towards your desire to be more fully aware of God's eternal presence and more fully available to God to touch the hearts of others in ways that stir their desire for more of God/Good. When we do that, we are living in that vulnerable wonderful place where Jesus lives. There is no better place here.
"God, I admit that it hurts to want more than I have and sometimes instead of turning towards you with that pain, open to what you may want to show me, I simply shut it down or numb it with some sort of filler. I feel better - but not really. Help me to be willing to accept the desires in me that propel me towards a deeper search for You and the life you offer and to be willing to hurt as long as necessary. Amen"
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Sheldon Swartz, M.A, LMFT works with individuals, couples, and families to identify the ways of life and death in their lives and help uncover the motivation to choose that which leads to life, whether it be through counseling or spiritual direction.
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