Complaining of being "bored" is a common modern experience. But when we stop and think about it, it really is a ridiculous complaint. How can any of us say they are "bored?" There are many lifetimes' worth both of fun and productive things to do but yet only one life on earth to get it all done. Knowing this, our complaint should be the opposite: frustration over the lack of time we have. How then, do we end up in the state of feeling bored?
One cause of being bored comes from being focused on your life as an individual and unaware or unwilling to see the greater causes which are worthy of attaching yourself to. Most of us do have boring lives which are fairly routinized. But that is why we need to look beyond and broaden our scope.
Matthew 9:35-38 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
The work is great and yet the labourers are few. We each have a place in the mission of the kingdom of God. Every person has a different gift and calling. Some are called into full-time ministry but the majority of us will do some ministry on the side while also working in secular employment. Volunteering with an established ministry, helping at church outreaches, or starting a ministry of your own are all options.
When an automotive engine is idling it slowly damages itself. The engine wears out faster idling than when the vehicle is being driven. This same principle applies to us. Idleness damages our bodies and souls. The principle "use it or lose it" applies, and leaving our talents unused causes them to degrade.
Bored or Idle?
The Bible never uses the word "boredom." It does however, speak often of "idleness" which is a similar concept. When we allow a void in our life, satan sees an entrance he can fill. Idleness is such a void and having free time with no purpose and energy behind it will quickly be squandered without nothing to show for it in the end.
1 Timothy 5:13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.
In this passage Paul denotes the immorality of idleness and how only evil things result from it. Gossiping and nosiness come about due to an abundance of free time combined with no plan on how to make use of this time.
As a person who can be easily addicted to computer games I know that there are times when I would keep gaming even when it was no longer fun to do so, just out of compulsion. When we do not come in to our day with structure, discipline and intention, satan is ready to siphon off our resources and the easiest resource he can quickly steal is our time by letting us sit comfortably in distraction.
Proverbs 18:9 He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.
Why is living in slothfulness equal to being a great destroyer? A destroyer may burn down a house but in the slothful man's case the house will still be gone, even though he is not violent, because it will not have been built in the first place. Both situations end up the same: only barren emptiness and desolation. The angry man destroys production through violence and the slothful man destroys it though wasted potential and squandered opportunity.
1 Corinthians 7:22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave.
When you are in secular employment (called while a "slave"), God understands and does not expect quite the same level of kingdom service. This is seen in the above verses where Paul states that one who comes to Christ while having an earthly master is the Lord's freedman; (ie. God does not punish him for being unable to constantly preach, because he has to work). On the other hand, one who comes to Christ and does not have a lot of obligations they are unable to escape ("called while free"), is expected to be the Lord's slave and use their time for doing ministry for God's kingdom.
Being unemployed is not an excuse to say you are bored; you are always employed in the service of the king! There is always something to do. When on disability or between jobs I never once complained of bordeom; not a single time. This is such a disgusting complain to make towards God for blessing you with rest and opportunity to develop your ministry. How can anyone ever complain of being bored??
There is too much kingdom work needing to be done for us to have any claim to being "bored." Let's be honest, we use the word "bored" because it sounds much nicer to say "I'm bored" rather than "I'm idle."
How much time have you spent trying to find your calling, ministry, gifts? Have you looked at the great needs this world has and how to help.
"I don't have time for that"
How many times do we whine, "I don't have TIME for that." There may be some truth to this in a season of busyness, but we have a bad habit of holding onto excuses long after their justification has expired.
When life slows down do we ever stop to remember all the promises and vows we made to God that we told him we would do if we had more time? God keeps track of every excuse made to not do his work, and once you come to the season of life where there is abundance of free time, He will prompt you again about it and you are accountable if you don't fulfill what you promised him by using time as an excuse not to do it.
Be Thankful for Abundance of Free Time
Even in recreation time, enjoy it to your fullest SO YOU CAN GIVE GOD THANKS FOR THE TIME OF ENJOYMENT. Here is a secret: If you want to get away with a little sloth, the best way to is to always give God abundance of thanks and happiness for giving you the time of rest. Worship him abundantly for this. This will often cause God to be more lenient (at least temporarily) when judging your life for sloth and he is more likely to give you a pass. Because true rest when it is needed is just as productive as work.
Every time you complain of being bored you blaspheme your Creator. Rather than giving your his true rest, he will fulfill your perverse request and let your life be drowned in busywork and obligations.
Hebrews 3:11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'
Might want to think twice next time and make a plan rather than complain of your boredom.
Filling In Gaps
Sometimes you end up waiting somewhere with nothing to do for 10 or 15 minutes. Social media apps want us to be trained to reach for them to fill these gaps in our day. It makes sense to do this because it feels like the time will be wasted anyways. This is a mistake. There are good things we can do. For example, the Bible of course is made up of chapters. In ten minutes we can read three chapters or so rather than giving those ten minutes to satan. You should always bring something to read wherever you go. Having reading apps on your phone produces an alternative to scrolling the ocean of AI sewage social media now is. Filling in dead space with "chunks" of a large project is a worthy use of time. Why instead would we go to the worthless TikTok. The undisciplined mind feeds itself with low-effort, low-IQ fluff. Now social media is mostly full of AI-written content. AI posts are engineered to get maximum engagement but with no concern for the final satisfaction of the user. You will follow the urge to click on it, but be left with an empty feeling afterwards.
Rest when you "need" to
How should we know then, when to rest?
Rest when you need to.
Sometimes we use the excuse that rest is healthy, when we do not actually need the rest. It is easy to keep pushing productivity farther away with procrastination, saying we will do the things we need to after a little more rest.... and then a little more becomes a lot more. Before we know it we have blown many days doing nothing, browsing nonsense, frittering time away.
Proverbs 24:33-34
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.
We will only be productive servants of God when we approach each day with intention, firm goals and a plan, starting from the beginning of the day. We must protect our time, being aware of how limited time is. King David prayed that God would help him number his days; that is, that God would help him understand how short life really is. Our days on earth are few in the grand scale of time, and once our time is spent there is no coming back.
Psalms 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.