“Im Bored”

“I’m bored!”

How many times have you heard that in your life? Or rather, how many times have you said that in your life? Ouch.

Okay, I’m thankful that my parents have trained me not to complain of boredom. After all, if I actually said that I was bored, they would quickly pile up plenty of things for me to do – and not things that I wanted to do.

Although I’m not too terribly guilty of complaining out loud of boredom, I am guilty of complaining about it in my head. But what if boredom was not something boring, something to complain about, but rather an “art” to be mastered?

God, through His scriptures, tell us to “Be still and know that I am God.” What better time to be still, and reflect on Godly thoughts, than when on a “boring” car ride or the equivalent thereof?

The Reason
There’s a reason why my generation has grown up complaining about boredom: Sesame Street. Nintendo. Entertainment. Our culture has become a self-centered society with a mentality that says “entertain me!” We’re used to having things now, when we want them. If we have to wait 3 seconds for a web page to load, it’s the end of the world.

That’s exactly the opposite of Scripture. Take for instance, the fruit of the Spirit. The KJV puts patience in the term “long-suffering,” and that’s exactly what patience is; it’s being willing to suffer through anything for any length of time. If you view patience as boredom, long suffering turns into long-torturing.

The Attitude
It’s all in the attitude. Your attitude towards boredom and patience is going to predetermine your reaction to it when it comes around. If you get an annoyed feeling when you think of boredom or patience, guess what your reaction is going to be when you are placed in a boring situation? You’re going to be annoyed (remember, your brain is unconsciously saying “entertain me!”).

If you don’t worry about boredom or patience because you know that:
1) You’ll have a book handy to read,
2) You’ll have a pocket Bible with a concordance with you so you can do some Bible study, or
3) You’ve got some things that you would like to take some time to think about,
then you’re not going to be annoyed when boredom comes around.

Know what’s more annoying than not having anything to do? It’s when you don’t have anything to do, you’re on the verge of actually understanding Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, and the teen sitting across from you is slouching down, yawning, squirming around, and complaining of boredom every couple minutes (thus ruining your concentration).

Like I said, it’s all in the attitude.

Bring Back the Lost Art
Boredom is not all that boring, when you really think about it. It’s just that thinking has become something lost to our generation. Yeah, we’ll think if we’re forced to (like when we’re trying to figure out how a geometric proof is supposed to work), but the rest of the time, we like to let computers do all the thinking for us.

Here’s the challenge: rediscover the lost art of thinking, and thereby unlock the key to the lost art of boredom. Try to understand not only what you do, but also why you do it.

This very thing is what set Einstein above the rest of his colleagues:

“I want to know God’s thougts. The rest are just details.” – Albert Einstein

We don’t know if Einstein ever became a Christian or not (he was a Jew), but we can learn a very important lesson from the above quote. We ought to try to see things the way God sees them instead of through our puny little eyes. That’s why situational ethics has become popular, even among Christ-followers; we confine ourselves to seeing everything through the eyes and reasoning of our selfish hearts.

How to Get Started
Have you ever thought about why we thank God for our food before we eat? Next time you’re bored, think about it, using your knowledge of the scriptures to shape the answer.

Some of my best ideas have been born out of boredom. For instance, I enjoy using time sitting in the car on long journeys to write and formulate stories. Here’s some ideas for things to do when you are faced with boredom:

• Write a story (or think of one)
• Pick a deep theological topic and dwell upon it, using your knowledge of the scriptures
• Think up of an idea for a TV commercial that presents the gospel to people in between shows
• Think about some topic in school that you’re struggling with and try to understand it better
• Make up a short play or drama that can be acted out for some kids

Just remember, if your attitude about being bored isn’t right, thinking is only going to add to the boredom. The lost art of boredom is an art that few people master, but yet open for everyone to master. Have I mastered it yet? Nope. Not even close. It’s a life-long journey.

I can’t say it enough: it’s all in the attitude.

This guest article was written by Chad Stembridge. Check out his website at stembridgemill.com If you have an article or essay on teenagers and God, ways to “get in action”, or anything else you think other teens would find interesting send us an email.