Suffering From "Same-itis?"

By Gobel Brockman


I've always found Winston Churchill to be an interesting character. Considered to be one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, he was instrumental in the fight for freedom in World War II. He is the only British Prime Minister to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature, and the first person to be awarded Honorary Citizenship in the United States. He certainly lived a colorful and eventful life. But one of the things I find most fascinating about him is what is recorded to be his final words before his death:

     "I'm bored with it all."

Interesting words from such a notable character, and that makes me wonder, "What about you and me?" Have you ever felt that way? You get up every morning, go to the same place, do the same things, and have the same conversations. You get complained about and cussed out by the same customers about the same things. Go to the same place for lunch. Drive the same way home, have the same meals and watch the same TV shows. Sunday rolls around, which means you go to church, see the same people, sing the same songs, and hear the same words you've been hearing every Sunday for years. ("Same" is quoted 11 times in this short paragraph.) "Same-itis" is a condition that we are all susceptible to. There are times we may be tempted to say with Mr. Churchill, "I'm bored with it all."

What's the cure for this hideous condition?

Well, rather than give you some fancy words or motivational slogans that sound like they came from a TV Info-mercial, I will instead just tell you this: there is going to be a certain amount of redundancy in our lives - it's unavoidable. People tend to work at the same place for an extended period, which means we do the same things over and over again. The same goes for our home lives. (There's that word again.) And church - the worship leader can't do all-new songs every Sunday or nobody would be able to sing along, and the Pastor can't change personalities every week. But here's what we CAN do: remember the words of Lamentations 3:22-23:

     "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies are never-ending, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

"New every morning." Think of it this way - every morning is a reboot, a chance to experience God's love and faithfulness in a whole new way. Find yourself getting "bored with it all"? Asking yourself, "Is this all there is to life?" Try this - begin your day by saying "Good morning, Lord!" instead of "Good Lord, it's morning..." Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in a brand new way. Surrender your heart to Him and make yourself available to be used to touch someone else's life. It's hard to be bored when you're watching God do amazing things in you and through you. I'm reminded of something I once heard a lady that grew up in the Depression say: "As a kid I learned real quick to never say "I'm bored" around my mother, because as soon as she heard any of us say it, we were out cleaning the hen house." I'm not saying God wants to give you lousy tasks to do, I'm saying He has an endless supply of grace and mercy, and there are endless ways He wants to put them to work in our lives so that others can see it. "Good morning, Lord" or "Good Lord, it's morning." Praying the right prayer to begin the day just may cure that "Same-itis", and you may soon find yourself too busy to be bored.

And too fulfilled.