The saying goes, “When all you’re armed with is an elephant gun, everywhere you look, you see an elephant.” The speaker repeatedly reloads the gun and takes aim at the same target week after week because that’s what on his or her mind. In this case, the pain is felt in the pew. Conversely, the anguish experienced in the study is the ever constant pressure to say something fresh and meaningful . As Haddon Robinson would regularly reminds us, “Whenever you preach, someone will suffer. Either you will suffer in preparing the message or the people will suffer in listening to it.”

Okay, if good preaching requires a bit of sweat and toil, where does one begin?
Know the subject matter, ie. The passage and context. There’s no substitute for biblical research. If you find yourself saying the same ideas repeatedly, you are not going far enough into the text. Facts come easily. Don’t just preach from the surface of the Scripture. The key is to unearth insight, that which is not readily apparent, from the text. Often times, the crucial element to unlocking the significance of a text comes in the very thing that we don’t initially understand. When you find yourself saying, “Boy, that’s strange. Why did that happen or why is it worded that way?” The first instinct is to avoid that which is problematic. What you should be doing is attack the point of confusion. When you can address that, you are that much closer to understanding why the Spirit of God inspired the human author to record this writing.

Take, for instance, the story of Uzzah in I Chronicles 13. Our first reaction is, “Don’t even go there.” The ark of the covenant is being transported on the ox drawn cart and it begins to wobble. Uzzah’s reflex action is to reach out to steady it, then bang! God strikes him dead. Now, who among us can say they don’t feel sorry for poor Uzzah. Don’t ignore that uneasiness because I guarantee you your listeners aren’t. The discomfort of this passage, the “what kind of God is this?” is exactly what must be addressed. We’re confronted with a Being with whom there’s a foolishness and presumption in thinking that He needs our help. This passage reminds us that God takes His word seriously (which is violated in this passage). We’re instructed that one might trifle with idols, but not the Living God, the portrait of a God who will not be managed or manipulated by us in any way. Short of ideas? Spend time grappling with the text; your listener will thank you.