Most leaders appreciate momentum. We get excited about growth, bigger teams, and seeing progress. It’s easy to think that if God is blessing our work, things should always be moving up. But the Bible shows us something different. Sometimes, God moves us forward by first taking us back.
When the Israelites left Egypt, God told them to turn back before moving forward again (Exodus 14). As a military strategy, this seemed like a bad idea. To others, it looked like they were lost. But what seemed like a step backward was actually God putting them in the right place. He was setting things up so His power would be clear.
We see this pattern in many Bible stories. Moses lived in obscurity for forty years before leading Israel. David went back to tending sheep after being chosen as king. Elijah spent time alone in the wilderness before facing kings. Even Jesus lived quietly for thirty years before starting a three-year public ministry.
Leading in God’s kingdom often means there are times when progress is hard to see, but growth is still happening inside us. For ministry leaders, these times can feel uncomfortable. Attendance stops growing. Budgets get tighter. There are fewer chances to do more. It can feel like your influence is shrinking. Everything inside you wants to fix it, grow, and push forward.
But experienced leaders start to ask a different question:
“What is God producing in me that success never could?”
Regression is not always a decline; going backward isn’t always a setback. Sometimes, it’s God’s way of helping us reset. Growth is not merely the accumulation of experiences—it is the interpretation of those experiences. Many leaders mistakenly measure success by expansion. God often measures success by obedience.
Sometimes, God asks us to focus on building smaller things, going deeper, making things simpler, improving our culture, fixing relationships, or checking our motives before He gives us more responsibility.
These times don’t usually make the news, but they help us become healthier leaders. Don’t think that doing less means you’re less fruitful. Sometimes God slows us down to help us grow deeper. Sometimes He makes us less visible so we find our identity in Him, not in praise. Sometimes He gives us a smaller stage so our souls can grow.
Final Thought
A leader who stays obedient when nothing seems to be moving forward develops a kind of trust that momentum alone can’t give. One day, others might celebrate your breakthrough, but only you and God will know it was built during the time that looked like a setback.
Written by Rod Whitlock, Coach, Invest Leadership Initiative
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