How to Overcome the Distraction of Boredom

So many of us are now stuck at home. Are the same old four walls becoming a distraction? Even if you aren’t under stay at home orders, you can get distracted by the world around you.

Right now, it seems natural to be distracted by the global pandemic. But it’s also easy to become distracted by minor issues.

A Problem of Distraction in the Church

As we follow Jesus, we are bombarded with worldly ideas as well as spiritual ideas that drive us from our true objective. The church in Thessalonica had a similar problem. The focus on the Day of the Lord had become a distraction.

The Day of the Lord was the day everyone has been looking forward to for the past few millennia – the day Jesus returns and establishes justice and righteousness. It is a day of judgment and the eradication of every kind of sin and evil.

Paul corrected the church in his first letter to them and helped them get back to where they needed to be and what they needed to focus on. When we are beset with distractions, we need to listen to the advice Paul gave to them and now gives to us.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:8, 11 (NIV)

We belong to the day which means we live in the light! God is light, without any shadow. Jesus is light. Living in this light, allows us to see all spiritual truth. How do we live in the light? Paul gives us five practices to engage in and one to avoid.

Five Practices to Overcome Distraction

Be sober. It literally means to be sober – not drunk. In other words, we should never be under the influence of alcohol. Instead we must be self-controlled, clear headed, and discerning.

Put on faith. We are saved and sanctified by faith. By faith we discern the presence of the Spirit in our lives. This means we don’t live by what we see but by what God reveals to us. Prayer is the very language of faith. When we put on faith we realize that the reality of the unseen is greater than the reality of the seen!

Put on love. First, love for God as we express in worship and adoration. Part of love is spending time reading God’s love letter to us – the Bible! This helps us to learn more about him and about us. Love also envelopes obedience. Jesus called obedience the evidence of love. It is our expression of love to God. To love God is to trust him enough to be completely obedient to him.

Put on the hope of salvation. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines hope as ‘to desire with expectation.’ The Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology says biblical hope is ‘a sure confidence that what God began to do in Christ, he will complete.’ We could look at hope as being the emotional cousin of faith. Hope sustains us. We have a very specific hope: the completed work of salvation, escape from this world and eternity in heaven.

Encourage. According to Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, the word encouragement comes from Old French en– cause to be + corage courage. So when we encourage people it causes someone to be courageous! It is the opposite of discourage which also comes from Old French des– away.

Encouragement actually gives us courage to move ahead! We can express it in many ways, with one thing in common – it builds up. A simple test of encouragement – do you words give courage or take away courage?

Be Encouraged

Your present circumstance will not last forever. Perhaps, it seems like it is dragging on with no end in sight. However, we are following Jesus right through this valley and we will emerge on the other side, stronger and more like our Lord!