(1) SOME ARE BORED IN THEIR MARRIAGE
Illus: Before Linda became engaged, she was quite the beauty, and didn't mind letting her boyfriend know it.
One day she told him, "A lot of men are gonna be totally miserable when I marry."
"Really?" asked her boyfriend, "And just how many men are you planning to marry?"
(2) SOME ARE BORED WITH THEIR JOBS
Illus: Norman Rockwell has a painting where firemen pass the hours between alarms playing checkers and showing off the polished brass and bright red trucks to wide-eyed young visitors. But for the volunteer firemen of Genoa, Texas, in suburban Houston, that was not enough. In the past three years, eight bored Genoa firemen have set about 40 fires in abandoned buildings and grass fields. As soon as the blazes were going, the arsonists would dash back to the firehouse and rush off to put out their own fires. The Genoa firemen were quite busy until they made the mistake of setting fire to a barn owned by the brother of a Houston fire department official. An investigation of the blaze led to the Genoa firehouse, and the overeager fire fighters were exposed. Explained one of the firemen charged with arson: “We’d hang around the station on the night shift without a thing to do. We just wanted to get the red light flashing and the bells clanging.” (—Time)
(3) SOME ARE BORED IN SCHOOL
Some of the experts say the reason that many children have turned to violence is because they are bored with life, and in desperation they are reaching out for some kind of excitement in their life. They claim this is why:
• Many turn to drugs
• Many turn to illicit sex
• Many want to watch violence
• Many want to participate in violence
They are bored stiff with life and they are trying to find some excitement to rid them of the boredom they face each day.
(4) SOME ARE BORED WITH LONELINESS
Their children are grown, and now what used to be an exciting house to live in is quiet.
Illus: An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her dad, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up. The old man hangs up his phone, and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're both coming for Thanksgiving. Now what do we tell them for Christmas?"
WHAT IS BOREDOM? Boredom is not, contrary to popular belief, a result of having nothing to do.
Boredom stems from the situation where none of the possible things that a person can do appeal to the person in question. This renders the person inactive, and generally unhappy. Thus, boredom is the result of having nothing to do that one likes.
Boredom is a road sign in life that warns us we are moving in the wrong direction. But the good news is there is hope IF WE FOLLOW GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS IN GOD’S WORD.
Illus: We do not need to be like the patient that said to his doctor:
• “It's been one month since my last visit and I still feel miserable.”
• Doctor: “Did you follow the instructions on the medicine bottle I gave you?”
• Patient: “I sure did. The instructions on the bottle said, ‘keep lid tightly closed ‘ and I am still bored.”
Let’s open up the Word of God for instructions to see what we can do to overcome boredom in our life.
I. LOOK AT THE REASON FOR BOREDOM
There is a reason for everything, and there is a reason for boredom. Let me suggest THREE REASONS why many are bored in life. They need to have a-
A. CHANGE OF PLACE
Many fall into a rut in life and they stay there week after week, month after month, and year after year. Even though they live in a big world, the world in which they have chosen to live is a small world.
• They eat the same food everyday
• They eat at the same restaurant everyday
• They wear the same clothes everyday
• They park their car in the same place every day
• They sit in the same pew when they attend church every Sunday
They live in a big world, but they have chosen to make it a small world. They need to make some CHANGES!
Illus: There is a television program call “Extreme Makeover”. (Humor) I think we might have a few candidates in this congregation.
They will find someone that has some major physical problem. They send them to Hollywood for six weeks to have the best plastic surgeons, dentists, hair-designers, and clothes designers take these people into a world in which they have never been. And when they return to their families in six weeks after having this “Extreme Make-over,” they look like a different person.
This is the way many feel when they break out of the place in which they live day after day, week after week, and year after year, and take a vacation and see that the world in which they live is bigger than they could have ever imagined!
Sometimes the answer to boredom is simply a CHANGE OF PLACE. Notice, David alludes to that in Psalm 122:1, he said, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
David probably had reference to the routine of life where he lived day after day, week after week, and year after year. When church time came, it was a break in the routine and he said, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
He was glad because:
• He loved the Lord and wanted to go to the house of God to worship Him
• Going to church breaks the routine of life that he did on a daily basis
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells how he had an aunt that would hardly leave the house. He would visit with her in her home, and sometimes the house was so dark he could hardly see her sitting across the room.
Her little world had become A SMALL PLACE, and to cope with the boredom she practically had to live on medication.
Listen, there is a big world out there that God created for us to enjoy. People are not made to live like caged animals.
Illus: In my office I have a little fish in a small aquarium. We call him Samson, but sometimes I look at him and feel so sorry for him, because there are ponds that cover acres and acres of land and all he can do is go around in that little bowl that he is in day after day, week after week, and month after month.
Many times people suffer from BOREDOM because we need a CHANGE OF PLACE. But also sometimes we need a -
B. CHANGE OF FACE
Why did the Lord give us all different looking faces? Can you imagine how boring life would be if we all had the same face? Why? Just think if we all looked like Bill Brown, and every time we looked at someone we would be seeing a face that looks like his face. THAT IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANYONE BORED!
God made all these people with these different faces for us to look at, and we have chosen to look at the same few faces each day.
Illus: A woman was thinking about buying a pet to help her fight boredom. She decided she would like to find a beautiful parrot. It wouldn't be as much work as a dog, and it would be fun to hear it speak.
She went to a pet shop and immediately spotted a large beautiful parrot. She went to the owner of the store and asked how much the bird cost. The owner said it was $50. Delighted that such a rare looking and beautiful bird wasn't more expensive, she agreed to buy it. The owner looked at her and said, "Look, I should tell you first that this bird used to live in a house of ill-repute. Sometimes it says some things that might offend you." The woman thought about this, but decided she had to have the bird. The pet shop owner sold her the bird and she took it home. She hung the bird's cage up in her living room and waited for it to say something.
• The bird looked around the room, then at her, and said, "New house, new madam." The woman was a bit shocked at the implication, but then thought "that's not so bad."
• A couple hours later, the woman's two teenage daughters returned from school. When they inspected the bird, it looked at them and said, "New house, new madam, new working girls." The girls and the woman were a bit offended at first, but then began to laugh about the situation.
• A couple of hours later, the woman's husband came home from work. The bird looked at him and said, "New house, new madam, new working girls; same old faces. Hi Bob!"
We all have different faces, and our faces tell a great deal about us.
Illus: That reminds me of the student making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to gently reprove the child. Smiling sweetly, the Sunday School teacher said, "Bobby, when I was a child, I was told that if I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would stay like that." Bobby looked up and replied, "Well, Ms. Smith, you can't say you weren't warned."
Our faces tell a great deal about us.
Sometimes to fight boredom in this life, we need a CHANGE OF PLACE or a CHANGE OF FACE. Also, we may need a -
C. CHANGE OF PACE
Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. “
Listen, there is no way a person can be bored with life if God is ORDERING HIS STEPS!
Illus: One man said that he used to hate getting up in the morning because he didn’t feel he had a thing to live for that day.
Sin had such a choke hold on him, he didn’t care if he lived or died.
He said, “Then I met Jesus. Now I love my life. I love my family and I love my work. I’m overwhelmed everyday. I know that Christians are supposed to look forward to heaven, but I don’t want to die yet because I’m having so much fun.”
This man is like so many. They have a PACE in life that has caused them to become BORED WITH LIFE! But it would be difficult to find a Christian that is serving God with all their heart that is bored with life.
The reason that some today are bored is because they need a CHANGE OF PACE!
• Some need to SPEED UP
• Some need to SLOW DOWN
We are all thankful for the interstate highways. We can get on and lock on our cruise control, but if we aren’t careful we can find ourselves sleeping at the wheel, BECAUSE DRIVING BECOMES BORING!
Before we had the interstate highways, we found ourselves driving at different speeds, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, depending where we were and where we thought the highway patrolman was. The change of SPEED and the change of SCENERY made the trips much more pleasant.
Today, as many live their lives, they have locked on their cruise control; they are at the SAME PACE week after week, month after month, and year after year.
These three things are THE REASONS some are BORED TO DEATH WITH LIFE:
• The same Place
• The same Face
• The same Pace
We have looked at THE REASON FOR BOREDOM, now-
II. LOOK AT THE REMEDY FOR BOREDOM
HOW DO WE OVERCOME BOREDOM?
A. BY DOING WHATEVER LIES CLOSE AT HAND
A bored person gives the impression they are bored because there is nothing to do. But that is not so! There are all kinds of things that need to be done.
Illus: Have you ever talked with a bored person? You can say:
• This is a very inspiring book! And they will say, “Whatever.”
• That was a very good movie! And they will say, “Whatever.”
• That was a very good sermon! And they will say, “Whatever”.
The word “Whatever” in that sense means, “I don’t even care enough to give you an answer.”
This is the way that many are today. There are all kinds of things they could do with their life, but they sit there as if there is nothing on this earth that needs to be done.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
• Look at Ecclesiastes 9:10, we read, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do…”
• Eugene Peterson’s translation translates this verse as, “Whatever turns up, grab it and do it.”
In this life there is work to be done, much of it tedious and monotonous!
Illus: Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Better to do what you need to do than to waste four hours dreaming about what you would like to do.”
There is always work to be done
• Someone has to clear the table
• Someone has to take out the trash
• Someone has to pay the bills
• Someone has to wash the windows
• Someone has to replace the oil filter in the car
• Someone has to teach Sunday School
• Someone has to file the papers
• Someone has to drive the carpool on Thursday
Someone may say, “I don’t feel like doing it.” Your feelings don’t matter. Someone has to do it and it might as well be you.
Illus: You’ve heard the old saying, that is so true, “I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
It is very difficult to be bored when you are giving yourself to help those around you. You will soon find out that your problems are not so big after all, when you reach out to help folks with real problems!
Boredom comes when we focus on our own needs. Crawl outside yourself and your problems will seem smaller and your boredom will soon disappear.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do…” We overcome boredom …
B. BY DOING OUR WORK WITH PASSION
Ecclesiastes 9:10b, “Do it with all your might” Not only are we to do whatever lies close at hand, we are to do it aggressively.
Certainly some jobs pay more than others and some jobs gain much more praise than others, but that is where it ends!
There are people who are bored to death because they believe that ALL WORK should be FUN! If work was supposed to be fun all the time, it would be spelled F-U-N.
Many days you won’t feel like going to work, and if you go, you won’t enjoy it. Big deal. Go anyway. Do what you have to do. And do it with all your might. There is a certain amount of joy and contentment that comes from working aggressively.
Also, we overcome boredom …
C. BY PONDERING THE BREVITY OF LIFE
Look at the last part of verse 10, we read, “For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
I found a different translation of this verse in the Contemporary English Version: “Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or knows anything.”
“You will soon go to the world of the dead,” sounds like something you would find in a bad Chinese fortune cookie.
Illus: An old invitation hymn (“Softly and Tenderly”) offers this sobering verse:
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. We only get one chance to do whatever we’re going to do on planet earth. Our life under the sun will soon be over.
Do you recall how on September 11, 2001, after the planes hit the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, millions of people picked up the phone to call each other? One of the ironies of it all is that it takes a tragedy to force us to face the brevity of life.
Do not think you are immortal. We’re all going to do some serious “box time” before it’s over unless the rapture takes place.
The point is, do whatever you’re going to do now.
• If you intend to do some good deed, do it now.
• If you have some great plan, work on it now.
• If you intend to do something, be something, try something, do it now. You don’t have time to be bored.
Conclusion:
Remember, you represent Jesus in everything you do. Look at Col. 3:17a, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Illus: Folk singer Joan Baez once remarked, “You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live now.”
If you are bored, it is because you have chosen to live a boring life. Boredom is a warning sign that we are living for self when we ought to be living for God.
I. LOOK AT THE REASON FOR BOREDOM
II. LOOK AT THE REMEDY FOR BOREDOM
