Discontent with God Discontent simply means disappointed with one s circumstances. Have you ever been there? Life didn t turn out the way you thought it would have? Dreams didn t come true? Maybe there was a setback, or a holdup? Something that has left you in a place where you felt like God didn t do His job? You re not alone. Talk to any Christian who has been a believer for an extended period of time, and they to will be able to give you examples of situations in their lives where they had to battle with discontentment in the Lord because things didn t work out as they planned. What does this mean? Is God a jerk? No. Isaiah 55:8 says, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. We don t always know why things don t turn out the way we want, but what we can fully bank on is that God is always looking out for us, and is committed to leading us to His best; but in these times, we have a choice to either trust Him or become discontent with Him. I believe this message is important today because being discontent with God produces a heart of apathy and frustration, which lead us to put God on the back burner rather than making Him the focus of our lives. In our time together, we are going to see what it is to be discontent with God, and how we can find our contentment in Him; by looking at what we love, what we honor, what we offer, and what we neglect. Our text will be Malachi Chapter 1. The book of Malachi is the last Old Testament book before the New Testament. Nothing is really known of Malachi the author, but his name simply means messenger, or messenger of God. This book was written 100 years after the decree of Cyrus to allow Israel to go back to its homeland in 538 B.C., after being defeated and taken captive by the Babylonians.
When they returned to the land, God encouraged the people through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to rebuild the temple. God also promised this battered nation that He would bring back their prosperity, peace, and His presence (Haggai 2, Zechariah 1:16-17). But considering their current situation, these promises only seemed like cruel mockery. In contrast, Israel faced a devastated economy, prolonged drought, crop failure, and pestilence. This was the root of their discontentment in God. This leads us to our first point. What we love? (v.1-5) How does God respond to Israel s discontentment? (v. 1-2a) How does Israel respond? (Read v. 2b not all) I believe there are many of us sitting here today who can relate to how Israel is feeling, and may even feel qualified to ask God the same question: How has God loved me? Let s look at God s response (v.2-3). o God says Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. What does this mean? In context, love here refers to choice rather than affection, and hatred refers to rejection rather than animosity. God actually told Israel in Deuteronomy 23:7-8 to not hate the decedents of Esau, because they were their relatives. In verse 8, God even makes a way for them to be a part of what God is doing in Israel.
The point that God is making is that His choice of their ancestor Jacob had nothing to do with how good he was; in fact, in Jacob s life, he was deceitful to those closest to him. o God is simply stating that Israel had nothing to do with His choosing. He just chose them, kind of like how God sent His son to die for our sins, not because we earned it, but because He first loved us. So what about all this about God breaking down Esau s descendants, the Edomites? When Israel was being destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the Edomites their relatives did not help them, but profited from their destruction. God is showing Israel a great contrast. Edom will be destroyed. They would try to rebuild, but He threw them down; but when Israel was rebuilt, they were preserved. His love for them is evident in the fact that they are still around. What we are seeing here is God explaining to Israel how He has loved them, but Israel is discontent with what God is telling them. When we ask the question, How has God loved me? we do the same. In fact, we are stating that He hasn t done enough. I think we could all sit here and think about all the simple things that God has given us already, like breath, food, income, etc., but the main way that God has expressed His love for us is by sending His son to die for us, so we could be saved! The truth is, if God never did anything else for us, that would be enough. o When we are discontent with the love God has given us, we go on a desperate search for a love that will satisfy us, no matter the cost, but it never lasts. That s not God s heart for you! His love is constant, satisfying and free to anyone who wants it. Nothing on this earth can satisfy like the love of Jesus!
If you re married, your spouse cannot satisfy you like Jesus can. They can be the most attractive, giving, loving people in the world or just may not be but either way, marriage apart from being satisfied in the love of Jesus is miserable, because you can t ever do enough to please that person. Marriage centered in the love of Jesus is a stable foundation on which to build your future. This is also the truth for the single Christian. If you are not satisfied in the love of Christ now, you won t be satisfied when you get married. Be satisfied first, and then allow Him to lead you. So how can the love of God be enough for you? Faith in His love for you: Romans 8:38-39 Intimacy in His presence nothing like it! When we are content in the love of God, we develop a natural confidence and a desire to honor Him, which leads us to our second point. What do we Honor? (v. 6-8) God is going to be addressing the priests specifically here, because their discontentment has influenced the people to feel the same. Despise in the text means to look down upon with neglect, or to regard as unworthy of one s notice or consideration. It wasn t that the priests were causing the people to engage in idol worship, but something just as evil: ignoring the greatness and honor that God deserves. This means that the priests thought God was no big deal, and the people caught on to that and did the same. Two ways I believe we do this today:
o One of the areas I know in my life that I neglect the greatness of God is in prayer. When we pray, we are going before the KING OF KINGS. He holds the universe in the span of His hands, He stretched out the sky and formed the mountains by just speaking them into existence, He has decimated armies without lifting a finger; His glory is so great that we will require new bodies just to see Him face to face! And yet we rush into prayer without considering this! We treat Him like a genie, and start our day without acknowledging His power over our lives, or lose ourselves to fear and anxiety when problems arise. o Another way that we do this is by putting God on the back burner. He is just an add-on to our lives instead of the focus of them. The danger in this is explained in verse 8, when God has to remind the priests that what they are doing is evil. They offered defiled food on the altar: What does this mean? In accordance with the law, an animal sacrifice had to be without blemish. It could not have anything wrong with it. The priests were sacrificing defiled animals on God s holy altar. Why? Because their consciences had become so dull that from neglecting the greatness of God that they just didn t care anymore; in fact, they honored their governor more than they did God. o Unfortunately, some Christians today have more honor for celebrities, pro athletes, and bosses more than they do for God. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God explains what He will do to those who do not honor Him. For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
God is making it clear that those who don t honor Him won t be taken very seriously. When we are discontent with God, we don t give Him the honor He deserves, but give Him a backseat. The danger in this is that it can get to a point that our hearts become so callous and hard toward Him that what we offer to Him will have not value. This brings up our third point. What do we offer? (9-11) What we see in verse 9 is not a serious call to repentance for the priests; God is using some sarcasm. In other words, it could be said like this: Yes, please ask me for favor while you disrespect my offering. God is not pleased with the defiled offerings of the priests, and while they continue to do this, He will not accept them. When we look in the book of Isaiah 1:11-15, before the book of Malachi came into existence, God was addressing this issue with Israel. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? Says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. 12 When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My
soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Isaiah 1:11-15 This makes you think: If God feels this way about the offerings, why allow them to continue? Well, we know these offerings dealt with the sins of the people, but they also represented God s relationship with His people, because when they were sinning and not honoring Him, He didn t accept them. So this brings us and interesting question: What can we offer to God? Romans 12:1 says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. How do we offer our bodies as living sacrifices? By living our lives for the glory of God. Living for eternity, rather than what s in front of us here. This is a sweet and acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. In this He is glorified. God makes a bold statement here in verse 10. The priesthood is so corrupt, that it would be better if the offerings just stopped and someone closed the doors of the temple. o This is a warning for the church even today. If the church is opening for anything other that the glory of God, then it might as well stay closed. This passage is cool, because again God shows us that He is more about relationship that the deadness of religion, because in that we have nothing to offer. In verse 11, God gives Israel the reason why He will not accept their offerings.
o God s name is great, and because He is great, He must be worshiped, and if Israel will not do it, the gentiles will. God is not speaking of the pagan worship of that time, but is pointing to future worship that will come as a result of the messiah reigning on the earth in the millennial reign. In that time, the all nations will offer their worship to Him, and it will be a pure offering, not one defiled by contempt. This pure offering was being neglected by the priests, and the people were doing the same. Which brings us to our final point: What you neglect (v. 12-14) Malachi goes on to repeat the charge of profaning the name of the Lord as in verse 6. Here God is going to deal with their lack of respect for His table. The priests recognize that they are falling short of God s requirement for their services, but they do nothing to fix it, and see their service to the table of the Lord as a burden. o The best way I can give an example of this is when the dishes in the sink pile up and you walk by looking for a clean dish but are to lazy to wash one. Just me? OK. Caring for the things of God was a burden to them. The priests had a huge responsibility to the house of the Lord, and interceding for the sins of the people. For them to neglect this was to neglect the calling that God placed on their lives. When we are discontent with God we do the same. Following Him just seems like a burden, and the more discontent we become, the less we care about what God has called us to do.
o Why is this a dangerous thing? Because none of us have salvation so that we can have something to do on Sunday before the big game. We are called with a passionate purpose of making disciples for the Lord. When we stand before Him, we will have to answer for how we treated this calling He has given us. Because of the people s discontentment with God, their offerings became unacceptable and deceitful. The people would vow to give an acceptable animal sacrifice to the Lord, but offered a defiled one instead. In conclusion: o Despite the many blessings He had given them, they didn t see it as a big deal to neglect their vows before God, but gave Him the leftovers. They pretend to honor Him in making vows to follow Him, but when it came to being performed, they put minimal effort in, to such a degree that it would have been better for them not to have followed at all. Galatians 6:7 says that God is not mocked; what you you sow minimally or deceitfully in your relationship with the Lord, that s what you will reap from it. But if you sow much, you will reap much. As the saying goes, your walk with God is only as deep as you want it to be. How do you know if you are discontent with God right now? Are we satisfied in God s love alone? Are we honoring His greatness? Are we living as a sacrifice for His glory? Are we neglecting God s call on our lives? o Application: What does all this have to do with me? Discontentment leaves the believer unsatisfied and deceives them that God is not
enough for them. o If you are struggling with discontent with God, how do you become content? By returning to your first love, Jesus, by: Remembering who He is and what He is capable of Remembering His love for you Remembering what He has already done. o My challenge to you this week is when you start to feel like God has let you down, take time to remember these things. Maybe you re sitting here and you feel like life has let you down. One thing I can promise you is that Jesus won t, but will give you His best. If you want to give your life to Him, just raise your hand.