It could be something small or large. It could be that the thing is right in front of you, or perhaps you’re looking at a picture of it in a catalog. But the inner sensation is the same. You feel a pull to get that item. Or, if it is way too expensive for you to afford, you feel a discontent in not having it. You want it and that desire to have it affects your happiness. What is going on in your heart? Does this passage of Scripture give a hint at understanding your own heart?
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we may confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6
It may seem to you like an over-reaction, but this part of Scripture is saying that your desire to get things, and the corresponding unhappiness that you experience when you are prevented from having them, is actually a statement. You are declaring that you do not believe that God is near to you, and you do not believe that He will take care of you. That is what your heart is declaring.
Maybe you say, “That’s not true! That isn’t what is going on in my heart! I’m a Christian. I believe that God cares for me. But I still feel that pull that you described.”
Well, this isn’t my idea, it’s God’s! What does God say? In that passage of Scripture God says that discontent is the opposite of God’s self-declaration that He will never leave us or forsake us. Maybe the discontent you feel is actually more serious than you realized?
Any discontent we feel is a signal to us that we are misplacing our trust. We are trusting in something that we don’t have (it could be money, or some item, or even a relationship) to be our “helper” - to be that which will deliver us from fear. But the Bible says, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.” The Bible actually presents it this way - as two opposites: believing God for His nearness and help, or being discontent.
Are you paying attention to the signal?
