My grandson thought a clothing tag would satisfy him more than food.
I recall when my wife introduced one of our grandsons to table food. According to medical experts, he had only reached the age for eating baby food, but baby food wasn’t doing the trick. He was a big guy and needed more sustenance. Although our daughter would have fussed had he been the first grandchild, she was more lenient with the second. She put aside many of the first-time mother concerns and discovered grandparents knew best.
Although he loved table food, even it didn’t satisfy his appetite. One day, after arriving at her house with both boys, my daughter texted a picture to me, asking if the object looked familiar. I stretched the image to determine what it was. “A clothing tag,” I mused. She had fished it out of our grandson’s mouth after he began gagging.
Just as baby food didn’t satisfy our grandson, so King Solomon didn’t find satisfaction in anything he tried. He was the wealthiest king ever to rule over Israel and had more abundance than any other world ruler who preceded or followed him. He had the means to try it all . . . and did. But nothing satisfied. To use his phrase, Solomon said his actions were like chasing the wind.
Human nature makes being disgruntled rather than satisfied easier. I grew up in a lower-middle-class family, so I’m not accustomed to having much. I’ve had to learn to find contentment with what I had. Doing so hasn’t been easy. Looking at and longing for what others have is simpler. Being content with what God has given me without questioning him about why I can’t have what so and so has is challenging. But if I don’t capture this longing, I’ll live in a permanent state of dissatisfaction—a miserable existence.
Solomon advises us to enjoy what we have. Doing so doesn’t mean we shouldn’t establish goals or have desires and initiatives. Our contentment comes from knowing we are where God wants us now. Why we can’t have more opportunities or things is his decision, not ours.
We should enjoy life by accepting what we have and looking forward to what God will give us in the future—things and opportunities included. Think about attitudes that keep you from being satisfied.
Father, teach me the art of contentment—a feeling of satisfaction that does not depend on relationships or circumstances.
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