Discontentment is Satan’s Distraction, Patience is God’s reply

I just finished reading a book by Lysa Terkeurst, one of my favorite authors called “Who Holds The Key To Your Heart?” It was one of her early books that she wrote and in it, she compares Satan’s tactics with God’s reply by focusing each chapter on one of the fruits of the Spirits! It was amazing and I totally recommend it.

In the chapter, Discontentment is Satan’s Distraction, Patience is God’s reply, I learned so much and wanted to share some of it with you.   I learned that Satan uses discontentment to lure us away; he gets us to resent where we are and distract us with things that could be. This is different from daydreaming because this is being unable to be at peace with where God has you now. It blinds you from all the good and pulls you further from fulfilling the purpose God has for you now. It steals your patience for God’s perfect timing in your life.   How many of you have been there? I know I have.   She goes on and says that “Satan is crafty and forms cunning plans with our weaknesses. What better way to paralyze our effectiveness for Christ than to make us ungrateful for what we do have and distracted by longing for all we don’t have” Wow- this is powerful!   God, help all of us not fall into Satan’s trap!

I love how she goes on tells the secret to combat this; it is found in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  She says in her book, “The same God who gives you unshakably joy gives you strength. The same God who gives you unexplainable peace gives you strength! Now, in one amazing passage of Scripture, he explains how to be content, how to rest in the arms of patience, for He will give you the strength.”   God’s strength is powerful and we just have to ask Him for it; I think this is extremely important during those times that we are asked to wait and trust God.   Sometimes the waiting period is the hardest and that is where discontentment can appear, that is when Satan strikes.   I like how she says in her book, “We are to actively seek God and all that He intends for us to discover during this waiting period.”

This got me thinking of another book, “The Mended Heart” by Suzanne Eller that I read about a month ago where it talks about this waiting time as being in limbo. She gives the example of Paul’s ministry and him being in prison. I am sure Paul did not understand why he was there and not out preaching the Gospel in person. She points out in her book, “What Paul didn’t realize was that this limbo period would one day be the most significant part of his ministry. Those letters he wrote became the books of Ephesians, First and Second Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus and Philemon in the Bible. Those letters, written in limbo, didn’t just influence the churches that received them while he was imprisoned at different times and places, they still impact us today.” We just don’t know what God has planned for us in the midst of the waiting time.   She continues to encourage us by saying, “Don’t underestimate what God is doing in you in this season.”

So I want to encourage you to not let Satan lure you into discontentment.   Instead hold on to the truth that you can do all things through Christ’s strength! He can give you patience as you wait on God’s perfect timing. In fact, it may just be the most powerful place of growth in your life!!

Love, Jodi