For some reason I was thinking about this today and the phrase ' The devil makes work for idle hands to do' came to mind. Have been chewing on this all morning. Here's what Ive been thinking.
First off, I dont think boredom is the same as idleness. You can be very busy and utterly bored. Or still and quiet, and totally engaged. Boredom is , according to the dictionary, the state of being weary through dullness repetition and tedium. Or uninterested because of frequent indulgence or exposure. Weary and uninterested sums it up nicely I think. When we feel like this, particularly for any extended period of time, this is when the devil can seek us out and lead us into temptation.
Ive spent a good deal of the past fifteen years feeling bored. I found parenting young children incredibly boring. It was exhausting and uninteresting , cripplingly repetitive and dull for the most part. I know we arent really supposed to say it are we? But I really did not enjoy spending six or seven years talking about babies and doing ' baby things'. And since then life has mostly consisted of housework ( I seriously envy those people who really enjoy housework) and doing a part time job which I do enjoy but which doesnt particulalry engage the brain cells. There have been times over the past few years when I have teetered on the brink of doing things I shouldnt in order to inject a bit of excitement into my life. Don't worry, I havent been planning a bank robbery or contemplating becoming a professional gambler. But I can actually understand why some people do go off the rails just because their lives are dull.
When our lives become routine we are in danger of being lured away from the straight and narrow paths by the bright lights and excitement of sin city. Spending unwisely, eating wrongly, watching forbidden fruits on the telly or internet, having an affair, developing unhealthy interests or perhaps just sinking deep into depression and despair...... none of which are what God wants for us. It's true, we cant expect life to be exciting and dynamic all the time. We wouldnt survive it if it was. We have to suppose that for stretches of life things might well be routine and hum drum. But we do need to look out for each other and make every effort to identify the ' weariness and disinterest' in our friends and family. We need to be accountable for our moods and share our disappointments and frustrations with each other so that we can avoid temptation and keep our eyes on Jesus. We need to be kind to ourselves ( and to those around us) and look for opportunities to bring some light relief, enjoyment, excitement in good healthy ways so that our enemy has no foothold
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