What Do You Do When You Hit the Wall?

This is a repost from The Original Rookie Pastor, David Norman. 

Okay.  Go with me for a second.  I know this would never happen to you, but for conversation sake, let’s explore this idea. Your week’s been stressful.  You’re exhausted.  You’re trying to work up your message, but you simply can’t get your mind to work.  It won’t come together.  Time is of the essence, but the clock won’t cooperate with the fuzziness of your brain.

What do you do?

I don’t have the answer for you.  But I’ll give you my top 6 in no particular order:

• Go workout.  Nothing stimulates the mind more than stimulating the heart.  Go for a run.  Go lift weights.  Just go get the blood flowing.
• Go take a nap.  Sure, I know what I just said about working out, but sometimes a nap is just what’s needed.
• Go eat.  Often, I get busy and forget to eat.  By forgetting to eat, I mean eat real food.  I’ll sit down and munch on whatever I can get my hands on, but will fail to eat food that actually nourishes my body.  When that happens, the best thing is to get up, and go get a bite with someone that I enjoy talking to.
• Read.  I’ve found that subtle points in a book often spark the most profound points in a sermon.  You will almost never see me without 3 books within reach while I’m writing a sermon, even if they’re not specific to that particular message.
• Go play with my kids. If they’re around, it can sometimes mean that they have a part to play in my mind’s disengagement from the task at hand.  But it’s more beneficial for me to get on the floor and rough-house with them and then go back to work, rather than not writing my sermon and not playing with my kids.
• Read Scripture.  Yes.  That’s the second time I’ve put read, but this one’s different.  Rather than reading for an idea or reading from any other book.  There have been times that I’ve set aside 10-15 minutes just to read through a passage of Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, lead to repentance, and draw me in.  It’s hard NOT to write a sermon after you’ve experienced the life-giving effects of God’s Word.

But that’s my list.  What do you do when you hit the wall?