Within the realm of spiritual combat and spiritual warfare, Satan looks to cause discontent within a soul and stir it into anxiety and upheaval. Various souls at different levels of spiritual formation can experience this at different levels and varying degrees. Ultimately, spiritual discontent leads to discontent in life which then leads to lack of peace and calm. The focus of Christ who grants peace is less focal as the person looks to find satisfaction to the illusion of discontent within the world. As the soul distances itself from Christ and embraces physical comforts, it then becomes more vulnerable to sin, vice and demonic influence. Spiritual Directors, as well as Christian Counselors, can help direct and re-orientate clients/directees to the causing source of why they feel a certain a way, expose it and redirect them to Christ. This blog will examine discontent, tools that lead to it and re-calibration of the soul to God.
(Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Certification, as well as AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program. The Spiritual Direction Program is a Christian based program to help train directors in helping individuals enhance their relationship with God and cultivate a holier interior life, while the Christian Counseling Program is an integrated program of counseling with a Christian world view. Programs are open to both clinical as well as only pastoral counselors, but bear in mind, all professionals must retain their services within the scope of their professional and legal practice. This means pastoral counselors, as well as spiritual directors who are not licensed counselors are limited in care beyond pathology, cannot diagnose, and cannot prescribe. However, Spiritual Direction, unlike Christian Counseling, is more concerned with spirituality than psychological and secular issues.)
Christ Calls Us to Peace and Calm
When one takes their eyes off Christ, the storm of reality can overtake oneself. Like Peter, when he removed his eyes from the Lord during the storm, he no longer walked on water, but began to sink. One must constantly focus on Christ amidst the storm. Christ also compared individuals to the birds of the air. He stated that even the birds of the air and their requirements are met by the Father, and if so, why would human beings who are more important receive less? Yet, when individuals take their eyes off Christ, His peace and calm can easily be replaced with chaos and anxiety. A soul in the state of anxiety, depression, or discontent looses focus of the present. The soul then becomes distracted by other illusions of happiness that meet immediate needs that distract it from the truth. It is the opposite call of the peace and calm of Christ which promises long and sustaining happiness.
Happiness and Discontent
Happiness and being content are essential drives in the human will. Souls can fall into a holy discontent of lostness while other souls can fall into a state of discontent that looks to find happiness in temporal things of this world Unfortunately, the human will numerous times is attracted to false idols of happiness that is mistakes for truth and beauty. Individuals instead of fostering virtue which promises long term peace, calm, and joy, individuals reach out for the quick and easy fix of many vices that lead to immediate satisfaction and pleasure, but ultimately chaos, suffering and despair. Individuals who are suffering or in despair or discontent will many times turn to maladaptive coping strategies to find this illusion of happiness. They will turn to addictions, drugs, and practices that harm the body and soul over the long term, despite the temporary respite of illusionary happiness. Human beings will grasp at tangible, temporary, secular goods, objects or money that do not grant true happiness but only temporary distraction. All of these things can fade and fail to give the person true deep sense of self and happiness. Even, when individuals throw themselves into work, or hobbies, or other secular activities, once the noise is gone and one finds oneself alone to self, does the true discontent and lack of fulfillment manifest. Chasing other gods in the secular world leads to misery. These images, ideals, or relationships cannot ensure or sustain the true calm, peace and happiness found in God. Yet, the discontent seek things that give the temporary relief. They seek the dopamine effect instead of the serotonin effect. Instead of long term stability, they seek the thrill of the moment to mask the pain.
Like all gifts from the world, they are temporary and when secular gifts are dominated through the vices of avarice, greed and envy, then they lead to pathways of greater discontent. Satan never grants something without future suffering attached. The moment a soul engages in vices that demand more and disregard simple poverty of spirit, as well as justice in attainment of gifts, then the soul is open to manipulation to utilize any means to reach any ends. At the source leading to these greater vices of avarice, greed and envy is the spirit of discontent. It is the seed Satan sows to break down a soul and lead a soul to ruin.
Discontent is cultivated through three ways. Satan induces into the soul regret over the past, anxiety over the future and ingratitude for the present. Ironically, within the field of psychology and counseling, depression, anxiety and discontent are some of the top things that are dealt with, prescribed for and counseled. The need and drive for happiness is so great that it can lead to a multitude of sorrows when not properly directed. A calibrated and orientated soul to God, lets go of the regret of the past. It is not haunted by guilt but knows their sins have been forgiven and paid for at a high price. A soul in daily prayer with God is promised of hope for the future and given a grace of calm and peace when presented with uncertainty. A soul that understands lasting happiness is in God, properly understands the hierarchy of needs and wants. It is grateful for what is present, but can differentiate between secular needs and secular wants. It recognizes the humility and spiritual poverty of Christ while on earth and the lavish lies of the world. It further grasps the importance of eternal salvation and spiritual graces over the fading riches of the world. Yet, the soul of discontent is blinded. The blindness may be due to a loss and a discontent with God over it. It may be due to a past trauma that has pushed the soul to maladaptive practices to ease the pain at all costs. It may be due to a poorly orientated conscience that finds value in material goods, being consumed by avarice, greed and envy. Whatever the reason, the source of the discontent needs to be addressed in order to properly realign the soul to God.
Tools of Satan to Spread Discord and Discontent
Any gift given by God to humanity, or for that matter any advancement in science and society can be twisted by Satan for his own purpose. The freedom of human will to love God was distorted to reject God, the gift of sex in marriage for procreation and love was distorted for pleasure, control and manipulation, and the list goes on and on. The same is true of invention and social advancement. Communication through radio, television, the internet, as well as social media are gifts to a modern society when properly utilized to spread God’s word, to communicate needs of others and share news of disaster, to allow one’s mind to rest with innocent entertainment and to share and greet other friends and loved ones but when things are used in excess or directed towards selfish ends, then gifts quickly become curses. These curses can also become addictions that steal from one’s prayer life and communication with God. They can take away from physical exercise, work, family time, and academic pursuits.
Like any drug, or addiction, things can become excessive, chip away from duty, and cause ultimate distress and discontent. The devil has moved on to modernity with new tools to cause discontent. Yes, the classics still exist, drugs, sex, material goods and greed are still staples of his plan, but he has utilized modern tools to spread even faster the 7 capital sins to the world through mass media, television and social media. News on demand, social media posts, twitter comments, and opinions of someone never met can know harbor within the soul great frustration and daily anger. Instead of focusing on good things and one’s daily duty, individuals are more angry than ever and even more so, more manipulated into anger than ever. In addition, life styles that were rarely seen are now on constant display through TikTok and other media platforms that display rich lifestyles, immoral behavior and perfect bodies. Children addicted to their phones find themselves hypnotized by influencers. Others see a life on social media they can never attain or have and feel immense envy or discontent in their own life. They begin to question if their looks are good enough, their car, their clothes, or home, or money in the account. Instead of grateful, they become ungrateful. Instead of seeing how much they are blessed with, they see how much they do not have in comparison to others. Envy, greed and avarice then grows. No longer is one focused on Christ and His simplicity, but one is focused on how to get more of this world. This pushed a greater wedge in life between the person and God, preventing grace, and allowing seeds of the evil one to corrupt.
Facebook too celebrates false illusions. While like all social media tools, it is beneficial to spread information, share life events (hopefully not too personal), it still responsible when misused to create an altar to oneself. While sense of pride in self is good and pictures are sometimes more taken due to low self-esteem, the vice of pride and vanity can quickly take power if one is not proportionate in one’s relationship with God and others. One can be proud of one’s achievements and share them but they must always be done in a sense of humility attributing success, physical looks or talents, or material possessions as gifts from God.
Within itself, the modern cell phone, whether Android or Iphone has given individuals instant accessibility to so many things that others have never had before. The mere invention of the internet, was equally as powerful as the dawn of the radio and television. It opened so many venues for business, communication and entertainment but for new generations who are growing up immersed within it, there is lack of appreciate for patience, work, and research. Information can be quickly accessed instead of laboriously researched or sought out. This is not a bad thing but when appreciation is lost in the process for this great marvel, then human defect can emerge. This defect expects instant gratification instead of endurance and enduring fortitude. This instant gratification has also enabled immoral resources to be more ready available to the consumer. Television when misused could grant options for porn but with federal restrictions, one had to order special prescriptions for late night programs, or rent pornographic material from a store with all the labeling of shame and embarrassment accompanied with it. With the mobile handheld phone, any website of illicit and immoral behavior became available. Without the communal nature of a television or family computer, one can quickly and without hesitation discover immoral material simply via search within one’s privacy of a bedroom. These conveniences for sin and instant gratification have presented serious problems for the spiritual life. In some ways, it has afforded one forbidden knowledge which ironically is displayed upon an Iphone with a bitten apple!
Treating Discontent in Spiritual Direction
As pointed out discontent is the tool of the enemy to drive a wedge between God and the soul. The role of the Spiritual Director to help repair that wedge by helping the soul receive God’s grace to realign itself. This involves not only a spiritual movement of the soul but also a cognitive reframing of one’s life. The Spiritual Director needs to help the soul identify needs and wants and create a hierarchy of goods. The Spiritual Director needs to address the differences between pleasure and happiness. He or she needs to help the directee see the false idols of happiness and how they may grant temporary pleasure but fail to give the soul true happiness in peace with God. Ultimately, the director needs to express to the directee, that one must have faith in Christ and allow for God to unfold what plans He has. Seeking out the world, prevents and blinds the soul from finding God’s plan which will lead to contentment. So many times, individuals resist and resist God’s design for them, and they wonder why they suffer from discontent. Like a child who thinks he or she knows best, many push one’s own agenda over God’s agenda. The agenda of God is not meant to imprison a soul, but to free a soul to true happiness. This step of faith, this acceptance of what God has designed for an individual is the true source of happiness. This is why Satan seeks to distract everyone from this path. Instead one must trust in God’s plan, open oneself to discern it, and trust the outcome. The director can help one see everyone has a plan that is tied to one’s true peace and happiness.
The Spiritual Director can also point to the simplicity of Christ. He or she can compare and contrast the life of Christ as compared to so many s0-called influencers, stars, socially elite, wealthy individuals and powerful politicians. Jesus, Mary and Joseph never were rich or powerful in this world by its standards. The powers of Satan and his world, as the Gospel of John states, knew Him not. The same world rejected the life of the world. Christ could have by His own decree, riches and power, but instead He chose a stable to be born. His mother and foster-father lived in simplicity, while all knowing, the King of Kings was their Son, yet they accepted this simplicity. Spiritual Directors can ask directees how much more, does Christ even bless them in this world than He did His own life and family? The powerful image of the Holy Family represents an important image to content and discontent and the lies of the world that brew this depression, anxiety, and ingratitude.
Cognitively reframing one’s life as a blessing, as a glass half full, and appreciating the many gifts granted by God is important, but many have far less. Many are disturbed by depression, or face severe trauma and intense addictions. Obviously Spiritual Direction approaches these issues from a spiritual perspective, but unless a clinical professional, many of these issues need also addressed by other clinical professionals to help heal the fullness of the person. Working in conjunction with clinical professionals, upon approval of directee, can help heal the person at all level of his or her self.
Spiritually, the director can point out that the past pains, addictions and maladaptive coping, or whatever vices present are results of horrible things. Sometimes, spiritual discontent is tied to emotional trauma, extreme loss, and heavy crosses. It may be very difficult to see the glass as half full. Neither should these complaints be ignored in spiritual direction. The spiritual director approaches the vulnerability of each directee with empathy, unconditional positive regard and a genuine concern in agape love of neighbor. The director wishes to share in this pain and help the person find oneself out of this spiritual darkness. Through acknowledgement of the evils and losses, then one can begin to face them and to weed out the misconceptions planted by the enemy to use these horrible things as wedges from God. Instead, one can acknowledge the hard and horrible nature of life, but also find the love and peace God offers.
One must recall, that Christ not only through the Holy Family serves as an example for most souls who express ingratitude when life has not been that horrible, but the Holy Family also serves as an example for souls who have suffered unjustly. The Holy Family fled to Egypt because King Herod sough to kill the Christ Child. The Holy Family experienced loss, the death of St Joseph. Christ wept at the tragic and traumatic beheading of His cousin, St John the Baptist and He wept over the death of Lazarus. Mary, herself, experienced the most painful spiritual martyrdom of watching the execution and crucifixion of her Son. So, the Holy Family, as a source of calm and peace and gratitude in simplicity illustrates examples for those suffering basic spiritual discontent and traumatic emotional discontent.
Through this reframing and education about gratitude and life, the director can then re-introduce one to giving oneself to Christ. By simply saying “Jesus, I trust in You”, the soul can re-orientate itself to Christ. One can then realign needs, and desires with what matters most. Does this mean, one is called to live a vow of poverty? Does it mean, one is to wear sackcloth, or never want or desire a nice new pair of shoes, or maybe buy a nice new car? For some, maybe, if their calling, but for most, absolutely not. God does grant one physical gifts within His will, but they must be understood as means to an end on this earth. The director helps one understand the nature of temporal goods in relationship to spiritual salvation and human relationship. The director helps one to find joy in the temporal goods, or talents, one possesses as gifts from God. One’s material possessions are understood as good but also as fleeting and not permanent. They are made to be seen as not ends in themselves, or things to obsess over, or envy, or become emotional over. Is it natural to lose one’s temper or feel frustration, if one stains a new shirt, or an car is nicked in the parking lot? Of course, but to what extent? What extent does one feel discontent over mishaps over these physical gifts?
Again, some souls are called to a more absolute material poverty, while others are not, but the important thing for the director in regards to the majority of the population is to properly attune one’s connection with those goods, as well as one’s desires to attain future goods in relationship and proportionately to God’s will, salvation and the relationship with others.
Conclusion
Spiritual Directors need to understand the nature of discontent and how it sows within the soul depression, anxiety and ingratitude. The evil one hopes to steal the focus of Christ for other material goods or achievements and destroy peace, calm, and contentment. He primarily pushes one to regret the past, worry about the future and be discontent with the present. Some individuals suffer greater losses or traumas to be pushed to these extents and require both spiritual and also psychological aid but for many, the discontent finds its place in illusionary idols of happiness which grant immediate pleasure with future discontent over sustained happiness with calm and peace. Satan never grants gifts without future suffering! All gifts from God, whether spiritual, physical or temporal are distorted by the evil one to cause discontent. Satan uses many modern conveniences to cause discontent when these things should be used for the greater honor and glory of God and the betterment of humanity. Despite this, many souls fall victim to avarice, greed, pride and envy. Spiritual Directors need to help souls understand the hierarchy of needs and wants. While some may be called to absolute poverty, most individuals are not and they must be shown the value of material goods as gifts and means to an end as opposed to the end itself. They must be taught that temporal gifts are temporary and not permanent and not as important as salvation. They must be taught to emulate the Holy Family in simplicity to better find true peace and happiness. Spiritual Directors can help individuals reframe desires and needs and attune them with the Will of God and the peace and calm that comes with that.
Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program as well as its Christian Counseling Program!
Additional Blogs
Spiritual Planning. Access here
Spiritual Desolation. Access here
Additional Resources
Fr. Reheel “On Problems of Social Media”. Access here
Rev. Oganlade. “What the Bible Says About Discontent: Understanding Its Definition and Implications”. God’s Blessing. Access here
“6 Steps to Handling Holy Discontent”. CrossWalk. Access here