Prayyior's God Talk

As Christians, it seems discontent is different for us than it is for non-Christians, although who knows…I have not been “Non-Christian” since I was a kid in grade school.

There are days that it seems I want something more. Just dis-satisfied … I prefer to have more money than I have, am I discontent about that? Am I worried? Do I really trust God to take care of me? What do I really need?

Each of us may have differing areas of discontent, but I am betting there is at least 1 area we all fall into. I long for someone to say, or recognize what I do, day in and day out.

The food gets prepared, it usually takes me an hour to prepare a meal. The people who eat it, just expected it to be there. They may say things like. That was pretty good. I really don’t feel like eating right now. I am going to watch this show while I eat.

It takes a few hours to do laundry. The words you usually hear are not…Thank you for washing my clothes, but if you haven’t done it you hear…I don’t have any clean underwear. Didn’t you wash my jeans? So where is my favorite sweatshirt?

Cleaning the house is the same. Did anyone mention that they noticed, or is it just expected?

Discontent arises from someone’s failure to appreciate us. We do all the things we have always done, but it isn’t noticed. We begin to pity ourselves…feel sorry for us. Yea…

The bathroom can get terribly disgusting. Especially if you have men splattering all over. Amazing how they can take out a deer with one shot, but can’t hit the toilet. I get tired of pee on everything near the toilet. It hits the walls, runs down the front of the toilet, gets build-up between the toilet and the seat. Has anyone every taken it upon themselves to clean it off? How many days or weeks before anyone would do that. Will I wait them out? Not likely!

These are things that make me discontent. It just seems sometimes I can find other things that would be more beneficial than cleaning pee off the toilet., more beneficial than sitting at the kitchen table alone and eating while the people you fixed the food for run off to interact with the TV.

These are just the chores. We talk about lowering our expectations, which will lessen our disappointments.   When we have expectations that someone else will do something, we are sadly mistaken. Rarely will someone see what we need in our lives. That means WE have to take care of us!

One of the first things I learned in Real Estate is that “nobody cares about who you really are or your family or what you want!” They care only about what their needs are. Don’t share your personal life with them unless they specifically ask, and then it is probably not something they care about, they are probably just making conversation. It helped a lot to know that. Knowing the truth about a situation makes living it easier.

One other thing I learned in Real Estate is that, “nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care!”

So, I thought I would just list a few things that will help with the discontent issue, whatever it might be.

1. Only God really cares!

2. If you want something different from what is happening, ask for it.

3. Eliminate your expectations of others. What do you want for you?

4. Talk to yourself. Tell yourself, that even though you aren’t appreciated you love someone enough to do what you do.

5. Laughter is a great healer. Remember the time your little boy was learning to hit that toilet and turned around while he was talking and the whole bathroom, walls, floors and counters, not to mention you, were covered in pee? It wasn’t funny then, but it sure is now. Little boys have the funniest stories…there is the diaper change. Diaper off, a torrent, and how they gasped and tried to get away when that torrent hit them in the face.

6. Remember the song….I’m not home yet, this is not where I belong…. Yea, our mental attitudes affect how we come through these areas of discontent.

7. We “feel better” when we have encouraged someone else, so do that often! You help them, and in turn have helped yourself even more!

8. Most importantly….JESUS REALLY DOES CARE, and HE APPRECIATES ALL we do….

9. As you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me. YES, JESUS Cares and appreciates us! Love on HIM! And welcome Him to love on you!

Remember it is not the “stuff” that makes you crazy, it is what you allow the “stuff” to do to you that makes you crazy!