Fix your eyes on Jesus when you're dissatisfied

I remember a period in our life when Ray and I felt God had put us on too tight a leash. Have you ever felt that way, or do you now? We felt restricted, confined. We wanted breathing room. We were singing, "Don't fence me in!" It was a very important time for us. God wanted to teach us Psalm 131: My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. Do you think anything concerning you right now is too small? Your house or apartment? Your personal reputation? Your influence? Your job? Your family (you want to add a spouse or children)? Your circle of friends? Your salary? Your life? Until I paid attention to Psalm 131, I chafed. Then I discovered that God's leash wasn't too tight; my heart was too proud! I thought I "deserved" more; my self-image had greater expectations. And that attitude was the very grease on which I slid into self-pity, discontent, ungratefulness, misery. Then I fixed my eyes on Jesus -- and in my own eyes I became smaller and smaller. What was my stature, my purity, my power, my excellence compared with His? I felt foolish, embarrassed, very small. And now what did I deserve? Nothing -- nothing at all. I was an "unworthy servant" (Luke 17:10). Now I looked at all that the Lord God in His incredible grace had lavished on me -- with such love and joy -- and it was like Christmas in July! Notice what God can do for small people: When Gideon told the Lord that he was small -- "My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (Judges 6:15) -- then God could give him a big place: He made him leader of His people. When Saul said to God that he was small -- "Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe in Israel, and is my clan not the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?" (1 Samuel 9:21) -- then God could give him a huge place: He anointed him king over all Israel. (Later God reminded him why He could elevate him: because "you were ... small in your own eyes," 1 Samuel 15:17. When he turned proud, the Lord demoted him again.) When you're dissatisfied, where are your eyes? Mine were on myself, and the result was sheer misery. Discontent drives you to want more and more, to expect more and more, and to develop a spirit of disappointment both with your own life and with God -- which is death to your soul. Lust in final form spends everything To purchase headstones. All passions die in graveyards.1 Fix your eyes again on your blessed Jesus. He is full of grace and goodness; trust Him. Be satisfied. Be thankful. I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. . . . God had to help me grow out of babyhood and get a right perspective on myself. A baby thinks he's the center of the universe, so he fusses and cries. Look at Jesus and all that He is. Shrink until you fit your space. Now compare yourself with so many others around the world who are in a smaller place than you. Shrink some more. Humble yourselves . . . under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6). Fix your eyes on Jesus, and He will continually "set [your] feet in a spacious place" (Psalm 31:8). _______________ 1. "A Symphony in Sand," quoted in Christianity Today Magazine, 24 September 1990, "Reflections," p.41. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now why don't you pray to Him: Lord, forgive my restlessness, my dissatisfaction. I acknowledge my ingratitude. Lord, I rest in You! And I consecrate myself to develop the habit of thankfulness and contentment. "I have stilled and quieted my soul." I worship You! You are nothing but good, and You give me all the good things that are now good for me. Alleluia! Amen. * * * * * O my Savior, help me. I am so slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb; I am in the foothills when should be on the heights; I am pained by my graceless heart, my prayerless days, my poverty of love, my sloth in the heavenly race, my sullied conscience, my wasted hours, my unspent opportunities. I am blind while light shines around me: take the scales from my eyes . . . Make it my chief joy to study thee, meditate on thee, gaze on thee, sit like Mary at thy feet, lean like John on thy breast, appeal like Peter to thy love, count like Paul all things dung . . . Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight. Ride forth in me, thou king of kings and lord of lords, that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end. --Old Puritan prayer