Handful of Quiet

An avid slow-pitch softball player [in my younger, thinner years], there was one primary goal: at game-end, have more runs on the scoreboard than the opponent. As a team, we accomplished this with tight defense and forceful offense. Hit the ball hard, run the bases aggressively, and pursue home plate. Doing this over-and-over didn’t always guarantee a win but it sure made for a good game!

Have you ever chased the wind? Did you catch it? What a silly question, but not such a silly thought. Much of our lives are spent “running the bases.” In one seven-inning softball game, a player may bat 3-4 times, and every time she hopes to make 1st base – then 2nd base – then 3rd base – then cross the plate. And, guess what, she hopes to do the same thing the next at-bat. Solomon observed this of man’s toil and skill, “This also is vanity and a striving after wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4). From sunup to sundown, we strive for the ultimate good rather than genuinely desire to serve the LORD of heaven and earth. The Preacher continues in Verse 5, “The fool folds his hands,” – refuses to work and ruins himself. But “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.” (V.7). The toil of our hands, our striving, brings only more and more striving -- an endless plowing of water. Contentedness, however, settles in the soul and soothes the otherwise restless spirit of man; in Solomon’s words, it renders a handful of quietness. And what is such a handful like – real peace, serious solitude, deep and abiding joy! Paul wrote, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Philippians 4:11). It’s not what of this life that produces contentment; no, it is Who – it is Christ alone. We need not wait until we reach our promised eternal home of the Redeemed. Let us joy and delight now in Him, our Hope of Glory, and experience the … handful of quiet!