Little by Little

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
Exodus 23:29,30

God tells Joshua how He plans the invasion to play out. He points out that the entire campaign will take some time. God knows all the practical steps of occupying a new land and has promised to go ahead of them and hand it to them on a platter. People are generally impatient and all but demand things to hurry up. Fortunately, God has never been beholden to our timetables.

One of the most fascinating examples of doing things little by little is Noah’s Ark. God told Noah to build an entire ship and then gave him the specifications. It took Noah roughly 100 years to finish building this thing. That is a huge amount of time to devote to one thing. He would’ve had to spend his time wisely to keep at it for that long. He may have made plans, schedules, and achievable goals. We can do incredible things if we work little by little with the Lord.

Another thing God does little by little is walk with us through our sanctification. We grow more like Christ as we follow Him and subdue and destroy our carnal selves. It is a lifelong process that will not end while we live in this world. If it were up to me, I’d skip to the end and live my life out having been sanctified. What a shame it would be to skip the triumphant love story of our lives. The ups and downs and all the little ways God has delivered life to us on a platter.

Jonathan Duncan
EFCC Member