Little by Little

Little by Little

Deuteronomy 7:1-26

Read "No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all. (Deuteronomy 7:21-24)

Reflect Moses told the Israelites that God would go ahead of them and drive their enemies out of the Promised Land. But this would not happen all at once. Instead it would happen "little by little." And they would need to participate in the process. God certainly had the power to drive out Israel's enemies instantly. He had proven how powerful he was back in Egypt with the pharaoh. So why would this transition be gradual instead of sudden? There was value in God's gradual work and Israel's participation. If God had simply wiped out the nations all at once, the Israelites would have had other problems to deal with: wild animals. God's gradual approach was preventing this. Today, a lot of things happen instantly for us. It's easy to get used to instant gratification and grow impatient when something takes time. But we often can't see the problems that would be created from immediate fixes. God certainly could change your circumstances instantly without your cooperation. But there may be greater benefits from gradual change instead. God may be preventing worse problems from happening too.

Respond Rather than seeking instant solutions, consider how God might be going "ahead of you little by little." How will you participate?