— DAY 10 —

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST, 2026

 

THE PACE OF THE LEADER

 


SETTING THE SCENE
After escaping Egypt, the Israelites spent nearly a year camped at the base of Mount Sinai. They built the Tabernacle, received the law, and established their community. It was a comfortable, organized season of stability. But God never intended for His people to settle into a permanent camp of comfort. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the nation of the exact moment God shattered their stagnation. God spoke directly to Moses and commanded him to disrupt the status quo, saying, "You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Break camp and advance!" As the leader, Moses had to lift his staff, step to the front, and set the pace. He had to pull millions of people out of a passive maintenance mindset and drive them forward into new spiritual ground.

 

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES

Deuteronomy 1:6 to 7 (NLT)
"The Lord our God said to us at Mount Sinai, 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites and all the surrounding regions.'"

Exodus 14:15 (NLT)
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!'"

Proverbs 4:18 (NLT)
"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."

 

COMMENT
The greatest enemy of a healthy ministry is not opposition, it is stagnation. It is incredibly easy for a downhill leader to slowly slide into maintenance mode. Maintenance mode happens when you become content with just keeping the program running, managing the current roster, and repeating past successes. It is safe, predictable, and requires very little faith. But in the Kingdom of God, if a ministry is not actively growing, it is dying. There is no such thing as standing still.

Because spirit flows down, the pace of the team is completely determined by the pace of the leader. If you are stagnant, your team will stall. If you are comfortable just maintaining the status quo, your volunteers will lose their passion. Your team will never possess more vision, drive, or hunger for growth than what they see modeled in you. You have a strict responsibility to set the example, lead the way, and move the team forward.

When God told Moses that the people had stayed at the mountain long enough, Moses couldn't just tell the people to move, he had to lead the advance. True leadership is about constant progression. It means you are proactively looking for ways to improve your ministry area, stretch your team members, and reach new people.

Choosing growth over maintenance requires you to step out of your comfort zone first. It means you stop waiting for things to happen and you start making them happen. When you cultivate a culture of holy momentum, celebrate fresh initiatives, and refuse to let your team settle, the entire atmosphere shifts. You become a leader who paves the way for the future rather than one who merely guards the past.

 

WAYS TO LEAD THE ADVANCE

  • Set the Pace by Example: Never ask your team to stretch if you are staying still. Be the first to try new methods, read new resources, and look for ways to expand your own leadership capacity.

  • Kill the Survival Mindset: Intentionally shift your language from survival to growth. Stop talking about just getting through the weekend or surviving the event. Start challenging your team to think about what it takes to double your impact.

  • Stretch Your Team Members: A maintenance leader keeps people in the exact same spots forever because it is easy. A growth leader regularly gives team members new responsibilities, forces them to step up, and helps them discover new gifts.

  • Evaluate and Innovate Regularly: Do not keep doing things simply because that is the way we have always done them. Constantly audit your systems, ask what can be improved, and bring fresh solutions to the table before things become stale.

  • Keep the Vision at the Front: Remind your team constantly of where you are going, not just what you are doing. Regularly paint a clear picture of the promised land God has ahead for your specific ministry area.

 

THE PERSPECTIVE SELF-ASSESSMENT
Pick the number that best describes where you feel you’re at right now. Wherever you are, pray about what might be your next step to move forward.

  1. The Caretaker: I am completely stuck in maintenance mode. I am just trying to keep the wheels turning and avoid complaints. I hate change, resist new ideas, and my team is completely standing still.

  2. The Stationary Worker: I do my job reliably, but I have no real drive for growth. I put out fires and keep the status quo intact, but I am not doing anything to actively push my team forward.

  3. The Growing Pace Setter: I want to move forward and am starting to feel frustrated by stagnation. I am actively trying to innovate and stretch my team, though I still struggle to break out of old routines.

  4. The Momentum Builder: I am consistently leading the advance. I refuse to let my team settle at the mountain. I constantly model growth, experiment with new ideas, stretch my people, and fiercely pursue what God has next.

 

ACTION POINTS

  • The First Five: Give God the first five minutes of your day in silence before checking your phone, asking Him to break any spirits of complacency or fear of change inside your heart.

  • The Innovation Audit: Look at one specific system or routine in your ministry area today. Identify how it has slipped into pure maintenance, and draft one practical change to inject fresh growth into it.

  • The Stretch Challenge: Identify one person on your team who has been doing the exact same role for a long time. Proactively connect with them this week and give them a new, higher level responsibility to stretch their capacity.

 

MAIN QUESTIONS
(Self Reflection)

Let’s Talk in the Chat
(on the Boot Camp group in Planning Center)

One of the best parts of this journey is that we aren’t doing it alone. We’d love for our chat to be a place of real connection. As you go through each day, please jump in and share:

  1. Self Reflection: What did the test reveal to you today?

  2. God’s Voice: What is one specific thing you feel the Holy Spirit is whispering to your heart?

  3. The Wins: Did you do the First Five minutes of silence? Tell us about it!

  4. Growth Over Maintenance: Why is it so easy for us to get comfortable maintaining what is working rather than pushing for what is next, and how can you practically move your team forward this week?


Please Read:
Don't worry about sounding 'spiritual' The most encouraging thing you can share is your honest process. This is a self-reflection about what God is speaking directly to you about in YOUR life. Words like “I” and “Me” are encouraged, “we” and “us” less so.

 

PERSONAL PRAYER STARTER
"Lord, I’ll be honest, it is easy to get comfortable when things are stable, and I often prefer the safety of maintenance over the risk of growth. Forgive me for the times I have allowed my team to stay still because I was unwilling to move forward myself. Give me the courage of Moses to break camp. Help me to set a high spiritual pace, lead the advance, and constantly point my team toward the new territory You have for us. Amen."

 
REGISTER COMPLETION OF DAY 10