Definitely NOT bored.

When I was a kid I knew it was very important that I never, under any circumstances, let my parents hear me say the words: "I'm bored". This was so important that I remember my older brother and I warning our younger siblings against making such a mindless mistake. These days I sometimes hear similar cautionary whispers passing between my own children.

Why? Well, because any child who's even remotely acquainted with the inner workings of parent/child relations knows that parents have a knack for coming up with solutions for boredom that are often not particularly flashy or attractive.

Growing up in the country, there was always something productive to be done if there was anyone around with enough time on their hands to do it. It's simple math to realize that if you, through some momentary lapse of judgement, announced that you were bored, that obviously meant you had time on your hands. Oops.

The same is true at our house now. If one of our kids is so unoccupied that they actually feel the need to proclaim to the world that they are bored, my wife or I will happily point them in any number of productive directions in order to relieve their condition. The thing is, not all of those directions are work related or stifling, but the fact that they might be prevents them from wanting to risk it.

The idea of parents having solutions for their children's problems that the children aren't necessarily excited about is definitely not limited to the area of boredom. "I can't find my favorite t-shirt" could be answered with: "when's the last time you cleaned your room". Or, so-and-so was mean to me again" may elicit a response of: "what did you do to so-and-so (again) to begin with?". And on, and on, and on...

The crazy thing is, I think we do a similar thing with God. We've discovered that some of His solutions to our issues aren't very exciting, making us a little less eager to hear what He has to say about them.

For example, what if you're dealing with a lack of peace? The Bible says: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayers and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

In other words, if I want peace I should start by presenting my requests WITH THANKSGIVING! I might not really feel like being thankful at the moment, but hey, do I want peace or not?

The story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 is a vivid illustration of this. He came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to get eternal life, Jesus gave him an answer that was not what he was looking for, so he walked away. He was unwilling to give up what was necessary in order to follow Jesus. This story actually reminds me of an old Meatloaf song...

I realize that the Sunday school response to all of this is that God knows what's ultimately best for us so we should just trust Him and do what He asks. Well, believe it or not that also happens to be right response, but once again, it might not be what we want to hear.