When You're Bored Out of Your Mind
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV)
by Alexandra Copeland
When we examine the life of Christ, we see God’s whole intention for humanity wrapped up into one enormously loving, competent, and splendiferously spiritual package. Jesus Christ is our all in all. Everything that we could possibly want for ourselves and our futures is contained within him. He’s most definitely where the action is. His life was one big “DO-LOVE-GIVE!!!” Christ answers all the questions about purpose and life through his example, and everything that we need to know about our next move is contained within the way that he lived his life.
God never intended that we should be
bored for one single second. As we read about His throne in
Revelations, Chapter 4, we can see that it is a bevy of
glorious and dynamic activity. This is what He wants for us
as well, and through His Word He has told us how to achieve
a life that moves from one glory to the next. So when we
find ourselves bored out of our minds, instantly we can know
that something in the way of how we’re thinking and walking
out our purpose upon this earth is skipping a beat.
Sure, there will be times when things
feel monotonous, but these are the times that we are to
bring our minds and hearts back to the Word and see what God
says about the matter. In Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV) He tells
us, "Look carefully
then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the
best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore
do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord
is." God wants us to redeem our time
wisely and make the most of it, because our time here on
earth is in limited supply. We only have one life and we
should use it to learn to be like Christ, because this is
the Will of God; this is why we are here. Jesus Christ
sacrificed his life so that you and I would have the
opportunity to be as he was and is.
Many of us either neglect or ignore
this call to live up to the example of Christ. Some of us
imagine that it is too high a benchmark to meet, but this
simply isn’t the case. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) says,
"For we are God's
masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we
can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
By all accounts, a masterpiece is the highest
level of workmanship that can be achieved. We are God’s
masterpiece and He has made us new creatures. All the old
stuff is passed away. The defeating and self-sabotaging
behavior, the old negative thinking and speaking—that stuff
is a thing of the past. We’re working with brand new
spiritual accoutrement, and we’ve been given the choice to
use it all day, every day.
God has given us His Word, the
indwelling Holy Spirit, and the example of Christ. These are
the absolute best and top notch gifts that we could ever
possibly imagine. These gifts also provide us with the
spiritual weaponry we need to stand confident and strong as
we navigate through this earth experience. Ephesians 6:13-18
(The Message) makes it pretty clear that we can’t afford to
not use them. This passage says: “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own.
Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued,
so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be
on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and
salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them.
You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an
indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential
in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your
brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s
spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.”
Often, our boredom comes from a place
of not understanding our mission and from not being
confident that we can do all the wonderful things that God
planned for us long ago. Romans 8:17 says,
"And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with
Christ we are heirs of God's glory.” Through Christ, we
are designed FROM glory to GIVE glory to the One True God!
There isn’t anything better to do in the entire universe
than to give God glory, for He is preeminently glorious!
1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV) tells us, “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
If God has told us to glorify Him in our bodies, then
it must be possible for us to do so. Giving Him glory is a
full time job. We would never have time to get bored if we
set our minds to do His Will this way.
We shouldn’t ignore feelings of boredom
and pretend they don’t exist. All of us will feel this way
from time to time, but again, feelings of boredom beckon us
to look a little deeper into our souls. Sometimes, when
doing this, it is necessary to unplug from all the things
that distract us, so that we can recoup and regain our
bearings. God deserves our attention, and we deserve to give
ourselves a break as well.
Understanding our needs is also
important to stave off the blues of boredom. We are
three-part beings—spirit, soul, and body. Feeding our souls
is just as integral to sustaining a positive outlook as
nourishing our physical bodies. The soul is fed by the
things that we allow into our hearts and minds; they are the
gateways, and they (the heart and mind) produce what comes
out of it (the soul); therefore, we should take the
responsibility to protect our gateways very seriously. God
warns us to be careful about what we allow into our hearts
and minds, because these things ultimately have an impact on
us, sometimes in very significant ways. If it’s not good for
your spirit, then it’s not going to be good for your soul.
Ephesians 4:30 warns us not to grieve the spirit with
actions and thoughts that are not pleasing to God, but
rather, “Fix your
thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and
pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are
excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8 NLT)
We also can’t forget that we are wired
for connection. People mean the most to God and it is quite
natural for them to mean a great deal to us as well. God has
strategically positioned you to touch the lives of those in
your environment in a positive and Godly way. There’s
someone on your path that is waiting to hear a life changing
word from your lips. Someone needs to see your smile, to
connect with the light of Christ that shines in you. And the
astounding thing about this is that no one can have the same
effect on an individual as you can. This is why it is so
critical that you recognize who you are in Christ, and have
confidence in all that he’s placed within you.
God’s Word is a book of “DO-LOVE-GIVE”.
It’s the roadmap for our lives, and if we’ll follow it,
we’ll see that our time is well spent on things that yield
results. God designed our lives to be one big cycle of
giving and receiving, and this is the kind of life we’ll
have if we use our time wisely and get plugged into Jesus in
a major way. Our mode of thinking before Christ was so
overwhelmingly flawed, and this didn’t change at the point
of our born-again experience. Oh no! God didn’t come into
our bodies and start changing our thoughts. He didn’t throw
out all the bad stuff. He commanded us to do this work. God
instructed us to renew our minds—to get rid of that old way
of thinking and put on a new way, a way that is saturated in
His Word and will thrust us into the dynamic and powerful
way of Christ. So if you’re ever bored OUT of
your mind, get back IN the mind of Christ, and let him lead
you into the wonderful life you were called to live.
■
Scripture quotations are from the
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007
by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT)
are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King
James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message.
Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by
permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
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