Divine discontent

"When we do something — anything — that action can open the door of possibility, which can help us to believe our tomorrow can be brighter than our today, that our lives really can improve.  That belief is the first step to hope, encouragement, and happiness."

This past weekend I was abundantly blessed with an outpouring of the Spirit while attending stake conference.  Of course, an outpouring means personal revelation (how could it not?), and among other pieces of enlightenment I received was the idea to devote more weekly programs to the most recent General Conference.

That just seems appropriate in a world where wickedness is ever increasing and Satan’s counterfeits abound all the more.  Speaking of

counterfeits, Sister Michelle Craig spoke of counterfeits in the women’s meeting of the last General Conference.  Though I'm not a woman, I read the talks from that session after Conference, just like the sisters have been doing with the priesthood session for years.  And I found Sister Craig’s address entitled “Divine Discount” quite applicable for LDS singles everywhere.

Recognize the gap

Everyone at one time or another feels they exist beneath their own capacity.  Depending on our chosen perspective, recognizing that gap can motivate us to action or paralyze us into inaction.  Action feeds divine discontent, a yearning that propels us to reach higher and become something more than we were before.  Inaction feeds disillusioned discouragement, Satan’s counterfeit for divine discontent.

As Sister Craig shared,

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Divine discontent comes when we compare “what we are [to] what we have the power to become.” Each of us, if we are honest, feels a gap between where and who we are, and where and who we want to become. We yearn for greater personal capacity. We have these feelings because we are daughters and sons of God, born with the Light of Christ yet living in a fallen world. These feelings are God given and create an urgency to act.

We should welcome feelings of divine discontent that call us to a higher way, while recognizing and avoiding Satan’s counterfeit—paralyzing discouragement. This is a precious space into which Satan is all too eager to jump. We can choose to walk the higher path that leads us to seek for God and His peace and grace, or we can listen to Satan, who bombards us with messages that we will never be enough: rich enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, anything enough. Our discontent can become divine—or destructive.

How many of us have heard that message before, that we aren’t good enough?  Of course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ says we are good enough.  But if we still have habits of negative self talk, it can be all too easy to believe Satan’s lying counterfeits.

Action is the key

Sister Craig teaches the importance of action.  When the Prophet Joseph felt concerned as a boy about his shortcomings, he asked, “What is to be done?” (JS-H 1:10) and then acted in faith.  He went to the scriptures, responded to the invitation in James 1:5 to “ask of God” and ushered in the Restoration.

Likewise, when we feel the gap between what we are and what we would like to become, we should take action.  In my own life, I’ve found that staying inactive just breeds more disillusionment and discouragement.  It’s easier to talk yourself into deeper negative emotions like doubt, despair, and hopelessness when you aren’t doing anything.  But when we do something — anything — that action can open the door of possibility, which can help us to believe our tomorrow can be brighter than our today, that our lives really can improve.  That belief is the first step to hope, encouragement, and happiness.

We embrace another source of inaction when we entertain endless debates over whether the promptings we receive to do good come from the Spirit or our own thoughts.  Again, action is the key.  When we receive an idea to bring goodness into the world, we should focus less on the source of the idea and more on executing it.  Sister Craig tells a wonderful story about a seamstress named Susan who followed a prompting to make a tie for President Spencer W. Kimball but then backed off while en route to deliver it.  President Kimball’s wife Camille saw Susan at that critical moment and invited her forward, telling her “never [to] suppress a generous thought.”  Sister Craig loves that, and so do I.  “Never suppress a generous thought.”

Sister Craig continues,

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Whether they are direct promptings or just impulses to help, a good deed is never wasted, for “charity never faileth”—and is never the wrong response.

Often the timing is inconvenient, and we seldom know the impact of our small acts of service. But every now and then, we will recognize that we have been instruments in the hands of God and we will be grateful to know that the Holy Ghost working through us is a manifestation of God’s approval.

. . . you and I can plead for the Holy Ghost to show us “all things what [we] should do,” even when our to-do list already looks full. When prompted, we can leave dishes in the sink or an in-box full of challenges demanding attention in order to read to a child, visit with a friend, babysit a neighbor’s children, or serve in the temple. Don’t get me wrong—I am a list maker; I love checking things off. But peace comes in knowing that being more does not necessarily equate to doing more. Responding to discontent by resolving to follow promptings changes the way I think about “my time,” and I see people not as interruptions but as the purpose of my life.

I love that perspective on time management.  How often in our focus on getting things done do we miss the opportunity to make people’s lives better?  Becoming something more is about the quality of what we are and not just the quantity of what we can accomplish.

Trust in the Lord

Of course, becoming more is meaningless if it doesn’t near us to the Lord.  Sister Craig taught that divine discontent will lead us to humility and a recognition that with Christ we can be and do anything.  Such a recognition opposes Satan’s counterfeit message that we’re not enough, that we’ll never achieve our righteous desires or accomplish anything worthwhile in this life.

I love Sister Craig’s perspective on the miracles the Savior performed.  They “often begin with a recognition of want, need, failure, or inadequacy,” but when individuals gave the Lord their all anyway, He provided the miracle.

Sister Craig expounds,

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Have you ever felt your talents and gifts were too small for the task ahead? I have. But you and I can give what we have to Christ, and He will multiply our efforts. What you have to offer is more than enough—even with your human frailties and weaknesses—if you rely on the grace of God.

We can achieve our righteous desires if we approach the Lord in humility, give our all to whatever instructions He reveals to us through the Spirit, and then rely upon Him to make the miracle happen.  Whenever we feel we are far beneath our potential, divine discontent can bring us closer to the Lord as we act in faith, follow promptings to do good, and trust in the Lord.  And doing that will bring us more joy in our journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!