Halloween is so much fun as a kid. You dress up in a fun costume, then walk around the neighborhood ringing doorbells and receiving candy. When you get home (and maybe along the way!), you look at your haul and can’t wait to sit down and eat it. All of it!
Here’s what I’ve found though: what seems like a good idea at the time often isn’t really a good idea in the end. That big pile of candy in front of you? It sure seems like it would be good to eat it all right now. And at the time, it feels good to eat lots of candy. It’s so sweet and yummy going down, especially those peanut butter cups! But in a short while, you’ll be regretting it.
What is your pile of candy? Maybe it’s praise from others. Maybe it’s the satisfaction of beating that other salesman. Or maybe it’s more: more money, more stuff, more gadgets, more whatever.
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 4:6
Sometimes, there really is too much of a good thing. When Solomon talks about one handful of quietness, he’s really talking about contentment. It’s about being content with that one piece of candy rather than the whole pile. It’s about being satisfied with the one handful, rather than laboring and toiling after many.
How are you at practicing contentment? Are you living with the one handful, or are you striving for two? Where do you need God to give you His supernatural strength to overcome your own selfish greed and desires?