Can God Really Help You?

I have always been aware that I have a problem with boredom, but I thought that it was just part of life. One of the ways I escaped it was to daydream and this was something that God started to deal with me about. While I was daydreaming he did not have my mind or attention and it is not healthy to spend time in a make believe world. However, I began to take boredom seriously when God revealed to me that it was one of the things that caused me to over-eat. As I began to find out more about boredom, I realised that it was a much more serious problem than I had initially realised and that it was a spiritual attack. (I knew I was on the right lines when I began finding it difficult to carry on writing, instead I started looking for holidays for my family this summer!)

‘Boredom’ or ‘I’m bored’ are words that we use fairly frequently in today’s modern society. Children and teenagers are big fans of the words! However, did you know that ‘boredom’ is a modern word?

       The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, (1852) in which it appears six times, although the expression ‘to be a bore’ has been used in the sense of ‘to be tiresome or dull’ since 1768. Source: Wikipedia.

That probably explains why I couldn’t find it in the Bible!

Presumably, however, the feeling of boredom was around before 1852. It can’t be something that we started feeling once we had heard the word. Although the word is not mentioned in the Bible, it must have been as big a problem in Biblical times as it is now. I imagine that David was bored when he decided to commit adultery with Bathsheba.

Boredom is often viewed as a trivial and mild irritant, but has in fact been linked to a lot of different problems, including psychological, physical, educational and social difficulties. It is linked to depression, drug and alcohol use, sexual problems, and over-eating, to name a few. Despite this, there has not been a huge amount of research on it.

We tend to think that boredom arises from a lack of (interesting) things to do, but in fact it arises from the inability to latch onto any specific activity. We perceive our self as being bored when we are uninterested in and/or having difficulty concentrating on, the current activity, when we are finding it difficult to engage. Is this the fault of the activity, or something wrong within us?

The following definition of boredom gives insight into the problem:

Boredom = A state of malaise close to anxiety, a feeling of emptiness.

When you feel bored it means that you are struggling to enjoy the moment, your mind is restless, because you are anxious or worried about something. It may be that you are anxious about something happening, or something that needs doing. It means that you can’t settle.
If we look at the definition of anxiety it is an unpleasant feeling associated with uneasiness, fear or worry. Anxiety is a generalised mood condition that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. Doesn’t this sound like boredom? When you are bored you feel uneasy.

I believe that boredom is mild anxiety. We know that anxiety is not good for us. If we perceive ourselves as being anxious, we will usually look for a cause and try and do something about it, or ask for help. However, it is far more dangerous when it masquerades as boredom. If we think that we are bored, we don’t really see it as a serious problem. Often we will try to deal with boredom by changing the activity that we are doing. We will turn to something that we think is more entertaining, this is where addictions (including over-eating) find a foothold. They creep up on us because we are bored.

We are told that we have an enemy that comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) This enemy is a liar and a deceiver and I believe that boredom is one of his weapons. He convinces us that what we are feeling is boredom and not anxiety. That way he can then tempt us to change our activity to something he would rather we were doing.

The root of boredom is anxiety. To overcome boredom we need to deal with anxiety. The Bible has quite a lot to say about anxiety. In fact, it tells us that anxiety is part of the curse.

After the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, God gave them The Law. This included the Ten Commandments and guidance for day to day living. He also warned them about blessings and curses. He told them that if they were obedient they would be blessed, but if they were disobedient they would be cursed. Their behaviour would decide whether they lived a blessed or cursed life. He also made it clear that it was entirely up to them, they could choose how they behaved. They could choose life or death.

God told them what would happen if they were blessed and what would happen if they were cursed. Anxiety was listed as part of the curse.

      “There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.” Deuteronomy 28:65

This was not something that God wanted for his people. He was warning them that anxiety was a consequence of living in disobedience. Anxiety is bad for us.

      “An anxious heart weighs a man down”. Proverbs 12:25

Solomon was one of the wisest men in the Bible. He warned against anxiety.

      “What does a man get for all his toil and anxious striving?” Ecc2:22

      “Banish anxiety from your heart.” Ecc11:10

To live a full and abundant life we need to banish anxiety from our hearts. In doing so, we will eliminate boredom.

Anxiety is part of the curse, but the good news is that Jesus redeemed us from the curse.

     “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” Galatians 3:13

When we make Jesus our saviour we are set free from the curse. Jesus set us free from anxiety and boredom. You don’t have to be anxious or bored any more.

The problem is, although Jesus set us free we can still have open doors in our lives which let anxiety and boredom back in on a daily basis. The first thing we need to do is indentify the source or sources of the problem. Boredom usually takes root in childhood. I have listed below some of the common ways it enters, but you will need to think back and indentify specific problems in your life. Remember, anxiety and boredom are linked.
• Loneliness   Many children are lonely. This may be because they are an only child, or older siblings are at school. Often parents are busy and a child is expected to entertain themselves, either with toys or television. Even if someone else is in the house, children can be left alone for long periods of time. We are not meant to be on our own, we are meant to enjoy the company of other human beings. God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone and created Eve to be with him. God himself enjoyed their company. Loneliness at an early age creates a feeling of anxiety. A child will perceive this feeling of uneasiness as boredom.
• School   Many children are bored at school. This can be due to one of two extremes, either the work is too easy or it is too hard. Either way, the child cannot engage. This will cause a feeling of anxiety and restlessness that they will perceive as boredom. Education lasts a number of years and there is ample opportunity for bad teaching to allow boredom to take root.
• Misplaced Responsibility   Children are often made to take responsibility for things that are not their problem. For example, an older child will be told to look after a younger sibling, or be blamed for things they did. Children need to know that they are safe and looked after; they shouldn’t be worrying about other children. This can give them a sense of unease; again this comes to be perceived as boredom.
• Mild Abuse   I am not referring here to serious physical or sexual abuse; these create far more serious problems. However many children suffer mild abuse, often from otherwise good and loving parents. This may take the form of a verbal tongue lashing or being punished, say, for something that was an accident. Fraught parents can often say very cruel things in temper and also lash out physically. From a child’s perspective this often comes out of nowhere, mainly because they are unaware of the build up, for example a money problem or headache. This can lead to uneasiness, as they never know when the abuse might happen. This makes it difficult to settle and enjoy the moment. This uneasiness, or anxiety, will again be perceived as boredom.
• Stress   Children are often under pressure to perform well, particularly in examinations, but also in sports and other hobbies. The underlying feeling of nervousness (or anxiety) can make it difficult to concentrate on revision or practices, making them seem boring.
• Generational Line   Anxiety is contagious and is easily caught from close relatives. It is something that is passed down the generational line; often anxious parents will have anxious children. If anxiety has a stronghold within parents, the whole household will often feel tense or uneasy. This makes it difficult for children to settle or be at peace, creating a sense of restlessness or boredom.

Once we become adults, boredom will seek to increase its stronghold in our lives. It will interfere in our relationships with other people and with God. Have you ever noticed how when you try to spend time with God, it becomes difficult to settle and other mundane tasks, for example cleaning, seem more appealing. This is the enemy using boredom to distract you. He will do this in many areas of your life, including your marriage, friendships and workplace. He will introduce a sense of anxiety, which will make you think that you are bored, so you go off to find other things to stimulate yourself. This is how addictions start.  He knows your weaknesses and he will direct you towards them, whether it is alcohol, food, sex, gossip, pornography etc. These things can never satisfy you, you just end up needing a higher dose to alleviate the feeling of boredom.

Boredom causes us to waste time. It stops us focusing on the things we need to do and distracts us with unimportant things. This is self perpetuating, because then we become anxious about the things that we haven’t managed to do. This is one of its most insidious tactics, because sometimes we don’t recognise boredom or anxiety. For example, the woman who spends too much time watching soaps on television, or the man that watches too much sport. They don’t think that they are bored, but it is actually boredom stopping them doing more important activities by convincing them that the television is more appealing than the other boring activity. At the same time, boredom will send them to get something else to eat or drink.

Impatience is also a fruit of boredom. Impatience arises from an inability to settle in the moment. It is always looking for something to happen quickly. Once that thing happens it moves onto something else. It is rooted in anxiety. An impatient person is anxious that something will or will not happen.

Hopefully by now, you are starting to recognise anxiety, masquerading as boredom, and it’s different tactics. So, how do we tackle boredom?

        “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

      “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

We are told to cast our anxieties on God. God wants us to give him all our problems so that he can deal with them.

If you struggle with boredom or anxiety, you need to take the following steps:
1. Look back on your life and identify where it got a foothold. Pray about these specific issues and ask God to heal you.
2. Every time you feel a sense of boredom or unease, try to indentify the underlying anxiety. Ask God to help you with the problem.
3. If you are struggling with certain addictions or temptations, again try to indentify the underlying anxiety. For example, if your hand is in the biscuit tin and you are not even hungry, look for a reason. What is causing anxiety, making you feel bored and driven to eat to alleviate the feeling? Face the problem and pray about it.
4. If your parents or grandparents showed anxious behaviour as you were growing up, ask Jesus to cut the spiritual tie. You may need to ask someone else to pray with you.
5. Stand against boredom. Say “I am not bored, I do not receive boredom”.
6. Keep away from people that feed your anxieties. This may mean making some changes in your daily routine. For example, don’t eat your lunch with all your workmates if they are moaning and complaining. If you can’t avoid complainers, try changing the subject and ask God to protect your mind.

When I first sat down to study boredom, God gave me the following scripture.

      “When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.” Luke 11:37

I stared at this for ages, totally befuddled as to how it related to boredom. However, eventually I realised what God was saying. Jesus wasn’t bored. He was completely relaxed and in the moment. He had been speaking to a large crowd, you might think that he would be a bit stressed; wanting to get away from it all, rather than going to eat with a Pharisee, especially as he probably knew he would come in for some abuse. Instead of refusing or making some excuse, Jesus took a break and went in for something to eat.

Jesus was totally at ease wherever he was. There was no anxiety. He simply went in and reclined at the table. He was at peace with himself and with God. This is what we need to seek, peace. Read the scripture from Philippians again. We find our peace, thereby defeating boredom, by praying about everything.

It’s time to stop being bored and to start praying instead!