God of Little By Little

“I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.”

Exodus 23:29-30

Often, when we bring a situation to God, or when a friend tells us to pray about something, especially something urgent, we really hope to meet the God of suddenly.

As human as we are, we are often drawn to quick results. It is typical of us. We want the seven steps to growing a business, the seven steps to getting rich, the fast way to success, the fast way to almost everything. We want the shortcut. But today, I want to remind you of another side of Him: the God of little by little.

Reading through Scripture, we see that God promised the Israelites a wonderful land, a land flowing with milk and honey. How exciting! We all receive promises from God from time to time, and we get excited about them. But that excitement often turns into something else the moment it becomes: wait a minute.

We see this pattern throughout the Bible. David was anointed king, yet it took years before he actually became king. Abraham was promised he would be the father of a nation, but it took years for God's glory to be fully manifested in his life.

There is an important lesson in Exodus 23:29-30. God told the Israelites that He would drive out their enemies from the promised land, but not all at once. He would drive out their enemies little by little. His reasoning was deliberate: if the land were cleared too quickly, it would become desolate, and the wild animals would multiply beyond what the people could manage. God knew they were not ready to receive everything at once. We are prone to impatience that is why we must ask God for grace and not lean on our own understanding.

Sometimes, gradual progress is God’s way of preparing us for what He has promised.

The land turning desolate and the wild animals multiplying can be read as a picture of what impatience produces in our own lives, chaos and disorder that follow when we try to seize all at once what God intended to hand over gradually. His promise to drive out those enemies little by little is, in a sense, His promise to help us overcome our own obstacles gradually too.

The journey toward our goals takes time and effort, and there is real value in learning patience and perseverance rather than rushing ahead of Him.

Rather than instant fulfillment, He makes us wait because sometimes that waiting season exists simply to prepare us adequately for what's ahead.

Often, we are desperate to know why we have to wait. And God does not give us a reason: He sees from the future what we cannot see from the present. He is a Father who knows what is right for His children.

So in the moments when we ask, "God, why won't You give me this?",  remember: if your earthly father knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more will your Father in heaven give to those who ask Him? He is the One who says He knows the plans He has for us. God is interested in establishing us, and there is something we need to remember again and again: being patient, being responsible, and trusting in God’s guidance.