Holy Dissatisfaction Series

As I prayerfully look back over the past year, I realize that God is dissatisfied with me. As a pastor, as a husband, as a Christian, I have not been the person this past year that God wants me to be, and He is dissatisfied with me.

Now, that may sound like a serious confession of spiritual failure, but I have no hesitation in sharing it with you. Why? Because I know that as much as God is dissatisfied with me, He is just as dissatisfied with you. Am I wrong? Is there anyone here today who would make the claim that at this point in your life you are everything God wants you to be?

No, just as I know that God is dissatisfied with me, you need to know that God is dissatisfied with you. And if God is dissatisfied with us, we need to be dissatisfied with ourselves!

Now, wait a minute, you may be saying. Haven’t you taught us that God is not angry with us; that He sees us as righteous and holy through the blood of Jesus?

Col 1:21-22 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight;

And haven’t you taught us that God does not condemn us; that He loves us just the way we are?

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Absolutely! God does love us the way we are, and because of what Christ did for us on the cross, God will never condemn anyone who receives Him as Savior and Lord. But, it’s also true that God loves us too much to be satisfied with us the way we are. That’s the message of Philippians 1:6…

Phil 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

God is not finished with us yet! I think we all realize that we need to change, to become more the man, or woman, or young person that God called us to be. As long as I am satisfied with being the way I am, I have no motivation to change. I’ve got to be dissatisfied with where I am now before I will be motivated to pay the price to get to where I need to be.

ILLUS: Yesterday, the Tennessee Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens in a pro football playoff game. Before the game, all the commentators talked about was that the Titans had lost the last five games to the Ravens, and how the Ravens seem to have their number. Nobody gave the Titans a chance. So, how did they win? Well, I wasn’t in the Titans locker room, but there is one thing I’m confident of. Not only were the Titans a very good football team; what really caused them to win was … THEY WERE DISSATISFIED WITH THEMSELVES AND THEIR STATUS QUO. They were not satisfied to continue to be a team that was good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to beat the Ravens. And because they were dissatisfied, and said this situation cannot stay the way it is, they were willing to pay the price, in hard work and determination, in playing hurt, in continuing to push out when they were so tired they could hardly stand ...

The whole point of my message today is that we need to be dissatisfied with the way we are in order that we might become determined to become everything God intends for us to be.

Like the Tennessee Titans, WE NEED TO HAVE SOME HOLY DISSATISFACTION WITH OUR STATUS QUO!

Let me show you this in Scripture this morning. Go with me to Heb 5:12-14, where the Bible talks about this very issue, and let’s draw some lessons ...

Heb 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Look at what God is saying to the church in this passage:

• You are still spiritual babies when you ought to be grown up, and I am dissatisfied with you!