Divine Delays and Detours

Randy Stone • February 12, 2026

Divine Delays and Detours
When God’s Timing and Direction Disrupt Our Plans

If you’ve led in ministry for very long, you know the feeling.

The building project stalls.

The staff search stretches from weeks into months.

The “can’t-miss” outreach never really launches.

The transition you expected to be quick and clean turns slow and complicated.

You prayed, planned, prepared… and then everything slowed down, shifted, or stopped.

From a human perspective, it looks like failure, frustration, or poor execution. But what if some of our hardest seasons aren’t signs of God’s absence—what if they’re evidence of His active presence?

Scripture and experience both point to a pattern: God often leads His people through delays and detours to accomplish something He would never accomplish on a straight, fast, predictable path. This is an invitation for church leaders to reframe those seasons—not as wasted time, but as strategic moments in the hands of a sovereign God.

Delays: When God Says “Not Yet”

We tend to think in terms of open doors and closed doors. But some seasons feel like a door that’s cracked—yet refuses to swing open.

The Bible is full of “not yet” moments:

• Abraham and Sarah waiting for the promised son

• Joseph spending years in both pit and prison before influence arrived

• Israel wandering in the wilderness before entering the land

• The early church facing pressure and persecution before the gospel spread wider than anyone imagined

Those delays were not accidents. They were seasons where God was doing at least four kinds of work.

1) God prepares character before He expands influence

Leadership is more than talent and timing. It’s formation. Delays expose what we trust, what we fear, and what we’re tempted to manipulate.

In waiting seasons, God often asks leaders to exchange urgency for obedience, anxiety for trust, and control for surrender.

2) God strengthens community through shared waiting

Waiting together forms humility and unity—if leaders handle it well. It forces prayer. It deepens relationships. It reveals who is truly committed to the mission, not just the momentum.

Some of the strongest bonds in church life are formed in shared disappointment and shared hope.

3) God refines clarity by stripping away “extra”

Delays have a way of removing the nonessential. When plans slow down, leaders are forced to ask:

• Why are we doing this?

• What are we trying to accomplish spiritually?

• Is this initiative mission-critical—or simply momentum-driven?

It’s painful, but clarifying.

4) God grows faith by making room for dependency

Many churches (and leaders) say they depend on God—until God removes the props.

A delay can be the Lord’s mercy, teaching us to live by faith instead of by forecasting.

Detours: When God Says “Not That Way”

A detour feels different than a delay. A delay is stalled progress. A detour is redirected progress.

You were moving. You had a plan. Then something changed:

• A key leader resigns

• Attendance patterns shift

• A new demographic moves into the community

• A facility option disappears

• A partnership opens that you never expected

• A ministry “model” that worked somewhere else doesn’t work here

Detours are often God’s way of saying, “Your plan isn’t wrong… but it’s not the path I’m using right now.”

Biblical detours show up everywhere

• Israel’s route out of Egypt was not the shortest path

• Paul’s missionary plans were redirected more than once (including the Macedonian call in Acts)

• The early church was scattered by persecution…and the gospel multiplied beyond Jerusalem

Detours are rarely convenient, but they are often purposeful.

1) Detours realign us with God’s mission

Sometimes our plans are good—but not God’s best for this season, this city, this congregation, or this generation.

Detours push leaders back to the question:

Where is God already at work, and how do we join Him there?

2) Detours move us toward people we wouldn’t have chosen

Detours often take a church into new neighborhoods, networks, and needs. The people you never planned to serve may become central to your ministry calling.

3) Detours expose hidden idols

A reroute reveals what we quietly trust:

• Our preferred style

• Our familiar methods

• Our comfortable target demographic

• Our personal story of “how church is supposed to look”

When God redirects us, He’s often inviting us to lay down preferences and pick up obedience.

How Leaders Can Respond to Divine Delays and Detours

Strategic leadership doesn’t mean avoiding delays and detours. It means navigating them with faith, wisdom, and clarity.

1) Name what’s really happening

Ignoring disruption doesn’t help anyone. Say it out loud to your team and congregation:

• “We expected to be further along by now.”

• “We thought this would be the path, but God seems to be redirecting us.”

Honest leadership builds trust. Hope-filled leadership builds resilience.

2) Slow down to listen

Delays and detours are invitations to discernment.

• Spend intentional time in prayer (and, when needed, fasting)

• Invite trusted, spiritually mature voices from outside your circle

• Ask: “Lord, what are You forming in us before You move us forward?”

3) Revisit your core calling

Use “lost momentum” to return to basics:

• Why does this church exist in this community at this time?

• Who has God already placed in front of us?

• What has God consistently blessed in our past ministry?

Delays and detours often remove distractions so the mission becomes clearer.

4) Communicate frequently and pastorally

Silence breeds anxiety and speculation.

Even if the update is: “We are still waiting and praying,” say it. Frame the disruption as a spiritual journey, not merely a logistical problem. Use Scripture and testimonies to remind people: God often does His deepest work in “in-between” seasons.

5) Keep doing the next right thing

A delay doesn’t mean paralysis.

Keep preaching the gospel.

Keep discipling people.

Keep praying.

Keep loving your neighbors.

Keep developing leaders.

Faithfulness in the small keeps the church healthy while you wait for the big picture.

6) Make the delay productive

Some of the best “delay work” is infrastructure work:

• strengthen volunteer systems

• refresh onboarding and assimilation

• improve communication rhythms

• update training processes

• clarify roles and expectations

It’s not wasted time if it strengthens your foundation.

A Final Word: God Doesn’t Waste the Wilderness

From a spreadsheet perspective, delays and detours look inefficient.

From a Kingdom perspective, they are often the tools God uses to give us more of Himself.

As you lead your church through seasons of “not yet” and “not this way,” remember:

• God’s provision may be closer than you think

• God’s refining work may be deeper than you realize

• God’s preparation may be setting you up for greater faithfulness

• God’s presence is available right now—not just “when this is resolved”

God’s ultimate goal is not simply that your plans succeed, but that your church learns to pursue Him above all.

If your church is walking through a delay or detour, Strategic Church Solutions can help you discern what God may be doing, clarify next steps, and build a sustainable plan for the road ahead.

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