He restores my soul…. Psalm 23:3

Do you find yourself increasingly bored, dissatisfied, and thoroughly unhappy with life?

Such was the young mother who put it in these words: “I ask myself why I am so dissatisfied. I have my health, healthy kids, a nice home, enough money, and my husband has a real future as an electronics engineer. He does not have any of these feelings and he says, `Maybe you need a vacation. Let’s go to New York for a weekend.’ But that is not it. Maybe I will just wake up one morning and find there is nothing to look forward to.”

Dr. Harry Johnson, a medical doctor, wrote, “Today’s civilization, the most advanced in history, with the highest standard of living ever known, has produced a generation of bored, apathetic people. We seek entertainment, yet find it dull. We sit in front of screens watching a succession of shows and movies without really noticing what we are seeing. When we say, “I’m tired,” many of us really mean, “I’m tired of what I am doing. I am tired of my way of life.”

Women are not the only ones with this problem. A businessman went to the doctor because he was feeling bad. Neither he nor the doctor could pinpoint the trouble, and the physical exam showed that he was in good health. But he still complained, “I’m bone-tired from the minute I get up until I go to bed.” The doctor pointed out that he was physically in good shape. He reminded him of his family and prosperous business, but the man replied, “They can have it, I am bored stiff!”

What is the answer to this problem? Let me share with you three guidelines for breaking out of the weariness of a life going nowhere fast. Guideline #1: Ask God what He wants you to do with your life. Paul wrote that he wanted to lay hold of the purpose for which God had laid hold of him (Philippians 3:12). It’s a revolutionary idea based on reality. You are not an accident, a mistake that shouldn’t have happened, but a person created in God’s image, and, furthermore, if you are His child through faith in Jesus Christ, God has a mission, a purpose for your life. Do you know what it is?

Individuals who discover that, quickly lose their boredom. You are not sure of yourself, of where you have come from, of what you want to become. Part of your uncertainty may be the result of being cut off from God–like an airplane pilot in a storm who is searching for a landing field. People who seek to do God’s will live exciting lives that can be described as anything but boring.

Guideline #2: Set some goals for your life. This may be an extension of the first guideline. You have to know who you are to know where you are going. Set goals that are consistent with the way God made yo. Do not set goals that are absolutely impossible to achieve. Psychologists tell us that impossible goals are worse than no goals at all. Paul wrote that he could do all things through Christ who gave him strength. So can you!

Finally, Guideline #3: Search out the needs of others and take some of your time, talents and money to help them. Nobody is as bored as the person who has only his own selfish interests for company. Read the biographies of great men and women. You will find that even though they faced many problems and obstacles in their lives, they never had the problem of boredom. They had found God’s purpose for their lives, and fulfilling that became an unending adventure. It can happen to you as well.

Resource reading: Philippians 3:1-14