• +1-805-242-3180
  • info@cccsl.org

Divine Discontent

Divine Discontent

Sharing is caring!

By Rev. Elizabeth Rowley, Spiritual Director
November 16, 2018

Divine discontent is a restless dissatisfaction with what is.  It occurs when you are not living according to the deepest longing of your soul in some, or multiple areas of your life.  Perhaps you are underemployed, or in a relationship that does not make your heart sing.  In whichever area of life you are not living out your full potential, the result is Divine discontent.  It’s Divine because when you have discontent with what is, it eventually leads to transformation, and the unfoldment of your greater good that is yet to be.

If you do not heed the deeper longing, the discontent may reach a tipping point.  This is when painful situations manifest in those areas of life, and you become pushed by the pain of that discontent. We are pushed by our pain until we are pulled by vision.  When God plants an idea on our hearts and we pursue it, we get pulled by a vision. We are pulled by the Divine into our next greatest expression.

I previously worked for a software company in the Silicon Valley for 10 years. When I started Ministerial School, I began to feel Divine discontent. I was restless and unhappy at my job, but I couldn’t explain why; I was unable to put words to it. The job hadn’t changed, but I had. For the previous 9 years I spent most of my days in solitude behind a computer screen, problem-solving and troubleshooting the various aspects of website technology.  I had a longing for human interaction and connection, a deep desire to be around people.

Shortly after feeling this Divine discontent, I was laid off from that job.  This presented larger problems for me, as I could no longer make the mortgage payment on my condo, nor the high lease payment on my new car, and other pressing bills. I was being pushed by pain.

When pushed by pain, the initial reaction is to try to do what you did before, since that is what you know.  This pain will continue to push until you begin to catch glimpses of what your soul is being called to.  I searched for the same type of job for months on end, without any success.

When I ceased my tireless search for the same type of employment, I began to land information technology contract work. This allowed me to also do the work of ministry which was my true calling.  More contract gigs opened up, and soon I was back on track with all of my bills.

If you feel Divine discontent in your health, finances, work, or relationships, the invitation is to go deeper with it. See if you can reveal the longing that is summoning you from the depth of your soul.  Then take inspired action on that which you’re being called to do, or who you’re being called to be.

Everything will fall into place at the right and perfect time.

And so it is.

Rev. Elizabeth Rowley

Leave a Reply