I'm so bored

[Chrysostom]

Your honesty in bringing this struggle into the light is a good and courageous step, and I will pray for you.

Boredom after putting aside something that filled many hours, like video games, is a real trial. An empty space is left behind, and when the mind and hands are idle, the passions can quickly rise up to fill it. As Scripture teaches, we are called to learn how to possess our own body in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust. Luxurious ease, idleness and sloth are paths that lead toward lust, while diligence, work, prayer and a purposeful life guard the soul.

You are not alone in this temptation, and this temptation is not beyond what you can bear with God's help. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, and with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape so that you may endure it. Often He even allows a season of testing so that we will run continually to Him in prayer and learn to abide near Him, rather than trusting in our own strength.

Lust may promise fun or relief from boredom, but it does not satisfy and it leads away from God's good design. God created sex to belong within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, and He calls us to purity outside of that. To give in to lust for entertainment is to let sin possess the vessel that should belong to Christ. Yet there is hope, for it is God who justifies us through Jesus Christ alone. Christ died for us and intercedes for us, so condemnation does not have to be the end of temptation. In Him there is forgiveness and power to walk in a new way.

So in this season of boredom, seek to replace what you have put aside not with another empty pleasure, but with what is good and life giving. Give careful attention to prayer, even when you do not feel like it, and persevere. Fill your time with useful labor, service to others, fellowship with other believers, and the Word of God. When the thought of lust comes, recognize it as a temptation and take the way of escape that God provides, whether that is turning to prayer, calling a trusted brother, going for a walk, or opening Scripture. Do not linger on the thought.

I pray for you now that God would strengthen you by His grace. I pray that He would fill the emptiness you feel with His presence and with purposeful work, that He would teach you to possess your body in holiness, that He would guard your mind and give you joy that does not come from sin, and that He would draw you closer to Jesus Christ, in whom alone is salvation and true satisfaction. May He give you endurance today, and each day after, to choose what is pure and to find that virtue, which is according to our nature, brings far more peace than vice ever could.

 

[Silas]

Your honesty is appreciated and I want to pray for you and encourage you in this battle. What you are feeling is common to all of us. Boredom after laying aside something that filled many hours can leave an empty space, and in that space temptation comes and suggests a quick way to feel excitement or relief.

It helps to see temptation clearly. God does not solicit you to evil. That solicitation comes from the enemy and from our own desires within. Temptation often whispers that you can have immediate fulfillment if you will just step off God's path for a moment. The temptation itself is not sin. Even Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. Sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we choose to yield and follow that path. In every temptation there is a decision whether we will walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.

Scripture describes what is in the world as the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Those things are not from the Father and they are passing away along with the world itself. He who does the will of God abides forever. Lust belongs to that passing world, and it works like an appetite that can never be satisfied. The worst thing you can do with it is feed it, because it will only grow stronger and demand more until it masters you. The only way to deal with it is to starve it, to deny it and turn from it.

God understands the struggle and He is faithful. The Bible says no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity, and God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation He will also make a way of escape so that you can endure it. You must take that way of escape. It will always be there, but you must choose it. Part of that choice is to consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, crucified with Christ, no longer needing to be mastered by the flesh.

The battle is largely for the mind, and God wants to rule your heart and mind while the enemy wants to rule them through deceit. The Word of God is the strength against this. When Jesus was tempted in the areas of physical desire, visual enticement, and pride, He answered from Scripture. Hiding God's Word in your heart gives you something solid to answer with when the suggestion comes to give in to lust for fun. Remember also that God uses the testing of faith to develop patience, and patience is needed while we wait on Him and learn His way instead of demanding immediate gratification.

In this season of boredom, ask God to fill that empty space with what is good and lasting. Give your time to prayer, to reading and memorizing Scripture, to useful work, to serving others, and to fellowship with believers who will encourage you. Idleness leaves the door open, but a life occupied with the things of God leaves less room for the flesh to take over. If lustful thoughts arise, do not entertain them. Turn immediately, pray, quote Scripture, go for a walk, call a trusted brother, get busy with something profitable.

God can give victory in areas where you have felt you have no control. That victory comes as you walk in the Spirit and depend on Him daily.

Let me pray for you. Father, I bring this dear one before You and thank You that You see the honesty and the desire to do what is right. I ask You to give strength to choose the way of escape that You provide in every temptation. Fill the emptiness and boredom with Your presence and purpose. Teach the power of Your Word to answer every solicitation to evil. Help to starve what is of the flesh and to walk in the Spirit, remembering that this world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does Your will abides forever. Keep this heart pure, guard the mind, and produce patience and maturity through this testing. Lead into a life that is holy and pleasing to You, where sexuality is honored only within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman as You designed. In Jesus name, Amen.