When Life on the Road Means Hitting the Wall

Margaret Heaton
Apr 5
4 min read

Lessons from Full-Time RV Ministry and Learning to Rest in Christ

I laughed as my husband got out of bed and walked straight into the wall.

Why did I laugh?

Because I had done it myself.

It’s one of those unexpected casualties of living life on the road.

As we travel in ministry, we often have the opportunity to stay in bedrooms belonging to friends we’ve just met. We stay in motel rooms. We stay in cabins at camps where we’ve helped build. During one six-month stretch, I counted seventeen different beds we had slept in—each with a bathroom we had to search for in the middle of the night.

Ahhh… the trials of aging while traveling.

That nighttime trip to the bathroom can become quite the adventure when you forget what bedroom you’re sleeping in.

So yes, I laughed when my husband hit the wall, because I had hit that same wall many times before.

People often tell us they dream of someday traveling full-time in an RV and seeing the country the way we do. My husband and I just smile and say, “It’s a wonderful life.”

And it truly is.

But in the back of our minds, we’re also thinking:

…until you hit the wall.

That phrase, hitting the wall, brings up two very different thoughts.

Sometimes it means exactly what it sounds like—we literally hit the wall during the night because we forgot which room we were in.

But there is another kind of wall.

The rougher kind.

The kind where you feel like you cannot take one more step, drive one more mile, solve one more problem, or smile at one more person.

That is the wall we want to avoid.

Living as full-time RVers in construction missionary work, serving ministries across the country, gives us opportunities to meet wonderful new people and step into meaningful projects. Sometimes we are asked to do three more jobs than we originally signed up for. Sometimes we jump into the middle of a project already in motion. Other times we are called on to solve a problem we never saw coming.

And we are more than willing.

But after eleven years of this life, we have learned something important:

We must avoid the wall that says,

“DONE! I QUIT!”

1) We Hit the Wall When We Take Our Eyes Off Jesus

The first reason we may hit the wall is simple: we take our focus off Jesus and the work He called us to do.

Before we ever reach that point, we have learned to stop, steady ourselves, and refocus.

Often when we feel ourselves nearing that wall, it is because we have forgotten why we stepped into construction missionary life in the first place.

It was never about the projects.

It was never about the miles.

It was always about Christ alone.

When we are close to hitting the wall, it is often because we have taken our eyes off our first love, Christ Jesus.

2) We Can Work Ourselves Sick

The second reason we must stop before hitting the wall is because our human bodies are simply not made to run endlessly.

We are not designed to work day after day, week after week, without stopping.

We are not made to carry everyone else’s burdens 24/7 without rest.

If we ignore the limits God lovingly placed within our bodies, we will make ourselves sick.

Rest is not weakness.

Rest is obedience.

3) Pride Keeps Us Going in Our Own Strength

The third reason we hit the wall is pride.

Pride whispers, Keep going.

Pride says, Don’t stop now.

Pride convinces us that pushing through exhaustion is somehow spiritual.

But while pride keeps our feet moving, our relationship with Christ suffers.

Our physical health suffers.

Our emotional reserves run dry.

Our tank is empty, yet pride keeps pressing the gas pedal.

That kind of serving is no longer flowing from Christ’s strength.

It is flowing from our own.

And our own strength always runs out.

Christ Alone Is the Answer

Christ alone is the answer to every wall we face.

We must remain in prayer, in relationship with Him, listening carefully—not only to His voice, but also to the bodies He gave us.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is stop.

Pause.

Rest.

Sleep.

Pray.

Refocus.

Because the road is long, the ministry is great, and the call is beautiful—but we were never meant to walk it apart from His strength.

Here are a few verses that help guard our hearts from hitting the wall of physical, emotional, and spiritual “DONE! I QUIT!”

Genesis 2:2 – “And on the seventh day God had finished the work He had done, and He rested from all His work.”
Exodus 20:8 – “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Psalm 127:2 – “In vain you rise early and stay up late… for He grants sleep to those He loves.”
Matthew 11:28–30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Proverbs 23:4–5 – “Do not wear yourself out.”

Sometimes hitting the wall in the middle of the night can give us a good laugh.

But the deeper wall—the one built by exhaustion, pride, and lost focus—is one we must learn to recognize before we crash into it.

Life on the road is a beautiful calling.

Just make sure you know where the bathroom is.

And more importantly, make sure your eyes stay on Jesus.