Little By Little
Psalm 27:14 (NIV) Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
When I want something, I want it quickly. It’s why I love Amazon Prime. I find what I want, make a few clicks, and it’s delivered to my front porch within a few days.
My husband thinks it’s too quick and easy and a look into our pantry could prove him right. But despite the veggie spiralizer and some other unused items cluttering our shelves, I love this amazing service.
But waiting for the things we really long for often takes much longer, like when we are praying for our circumstances to change. Sometimes the waiting hurts and leaves us questioning why.
Exodus 23 is a reminder that God’s ways and timing are better than our own. God told Israel he would help them take back the land he had promised by sending His great power before them to force their enemies away. He explained that this would happen slowly because it was necessary for the process to happen just a little at a time.
Exodus 23:29-30The Voice (VOICE)
29 Now I will not do all this in a single year, because the land would become a wasteland, overpopulated with wild animals that would roam unchecked. 30 Rather, I will drive them out a little at a time—a few here, a few there—until your numbers grow and you are strong enough to take over the land and its care.
These verses provide application for the times when change comes slower than we’d like:
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Waiting gives time to carefully check our desires, motives, and dependence on God.
God explained that if it happened too fast “the land would become a wasteland, overpopulated with wild animals that would roam unchecked”.
If I got everything I wanted, my desires would grow as fast as the population of the wild animals.
2. God doesn’t want to give something His people will not be ready for.
He knew giving them the land too quickly would lead to trouble for the Israelites. He waited until they were ready, until the timing was right. This is what God does in our lives too. He protects us from things we aren’t even aware of-things we do not have the foresight to see. He protects us in ways we don’t even know and spares us from heartache, trouble, and inconvenience.
3. Waiting helps us us realize our own limits.
God told the Israelites that he would lead them to the place he had prepared by his great power- “When you fight against your enemies, I will send my great power before you. I will help you defeat all your enemies. The people who are against you will become confused in battle and run away.” Exodus 23:27 ERV
Some circumstances can only change by God’s power. I am learning dependence on Him as I wait expectantly for what I know only He can do.
4. Waiting prepares us for what is to come.
Judges 2:21-23 further explains how this slow process was also an opportunity for the Israelites to prove that they would continue to walk in the ways of the Lord. He demanded unconditional obedience. They needed time to grow strong enough to handle the new circumstances and God knows when we do too. Our faith, trust, and dependence can grow stronger in the wait while we continue to walk in the God’s ways.
5. Waiting helps us see ways we’ve already been blessed.
The Lord told the Israelites he would move their enemies from the land little by little. I can start to see how God is changing me and working in the lives of my family little by little, instead of focusing only on the one thing I want to see. Small things can grow into big things as Jesus explained in the parable he told in Matthew 13- 31 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
“Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”
Waiting gives time to carefully check our desires, motives, and dependence on God.
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