“All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” — Ecclesiastes 1:8 NIV

I am the designated tickle monster at home. Jimmy and Hayley (8 and 2) are my willing victims. Tickle time never ends because they decide they’ve had their fill of giggles, only when I insist that we’re done, at which point they yield to my authority as the tickle monster and happily find something else to do.

God has arranged something similar for us. When Jesus taught us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), it is implied that we ought to trust God to give us what we need, to be at peace with whatever that is and not worry about getting more until the next day. Following this rhythm of trusting God and embracing the sufficiency of God’s daily provisions leads to contentment, the key to happiness. The book of Ecclesiastes is honest about the fact that choosing contentment isn’t especially easy. Though God has placed eternity in our hearts, everything around us is finite. We feel compelled to get what we can while we can. But we will never be satisfied so long as we are trusting ourselves to know how much is enough. That’s not our job. We’re not the tickle monster, God is. Our job is to be grateful for being given yet another day to live and to laugh.

O God, thank you for giving us everything we need in life. Help us find contentment and joy in every circumstance. Amen.