We've all suffered from it at one time or another. The feeling that we're not getting anywhere... that everything we're doing now we've done a thousand times before... that there must be more to life than this.
But boredom, like depression, comes and goes. What bored you yesterday can totally engross you today. What is the difference?
Apart from possible biological explanations, it has a lot to do with motives. It isn't what we do so much as why we do it that matters.
Hell could easily be an eternity of playing cards... or watching soap operas... or eating grapes. Any pleasant activity can become torture if we are forced to repeat it indefinitely.
But add a few friends and some stimulating conversation to the card game... add a resemblance between the action in the soapie and problems you are facing in real life ...add the fact that you haven't eaten anything all day to the grapes... and suddenly a zest for life returns.
The ultimate ingredient to make life exciting is to know that you are making an investment toward eternity. When each new experience is an adventure that you are sharing with God, you begin to discover "life in all its fullness". (John 10:10)
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do," says Paul, "do it to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31) Put negatively, "Whatever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)
We tend to think of sin in terms of selfish indulgences. But just as virtue can be its own reward, so sin can be its own punishment. "Whatever is not of faith is boring."
Even things like sex, drugs, and good food can become sickening when they become ends in themselves, or when you lose track of your reason for wanting them... your faith that they are part of a bigger plan.
Years ago I had a general anaesthetic which produced a frightening side effect. As I was coming out of it, I felt I had lost my purpose for living, that I could not find God. For a brief period I felt suicidal.
Most of the world learns to live with this same horrible feeling every day. Life is a frantic effort to avoid thinking about where it is all leading. They are lost in their own meaninglessness.
After Christ's death and resurrection he told his followers to do nothing... to just wait in Jerusalem until they received power from God that would change their lives. (Luke 24:49) If we would do more 'waiting' on God for direction and purpose, life could be much more satisfying. If we would start each day with a time of listening to God, we could beat the boredom blues.
Isaiah 40:31 says: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."
And we might add, "...they shall do the most trivial things day after day without a hint of boredom."
(See also Positive Thinking, and Disillusionment.)
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