Beyond Boredom

Author: Carole Mayhall

Boredom can rob a person of joy. Apathy may not sink my boat but it can becalm me and cause despair as the wind is taken out of the sails of my life. I thought about two verses in Proverbs. Wisdom...is speaking, "I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race." (8:30-31)

because Christ lives in us, these verses are ours! We can be filled with delight daily. Let's emphasize that: We can be filled with delight daily. And those things that can and will delight us have nothing to do with position or ministry or fascinating things to do. We can have delight in the dull, monotonous months, in the routine, mundane days, in the lean, hungry years.

Three things will bring rejoicing to our souls: (1) God's very presence, (2) his world around us and (3) people! God's promise to be present with us always can bring us comfort and delight. So can the complexity and variety of his creation: a flower, the misty rain, the billowing clouds. Sometimes we may have to look hard into some of the people we encounter, but as we ask, God will help us delight in them too. These are the three pools of delight we can bathe in when we're young and strong, old and feeble or incapacitated or ill.

Anytime. Anyplace. Any condition.

I'll probably have to remind myself often when dullness of soul creeps over me, but the truth is that God provides...no excuse for boredom!

Father, when I feel disgruntled-dissatisfied with the "ordinary" life you've given me-please remind me that my circumstances aren't necessarily the problem. When I fee like a plug has been pulled from the bottom of my soul and all the meaning has disappeared down a dark drain, remind me to look for your delights-your purpose in my everyday life-until I find fresh joy in your presence, your world and your people.

Passage: Proverbs 8:22-31