Little by Little

It’s Salvation Sunday! The day I share encouragement I’ve received from God’s Word, the Holy Bible. I’ll understand if you skip these posts, but hope that you’ll try it out and keep an open mind. Thanks for your consideration!

A little while back I was reading in Deuteronomy. It tells the story of Moses being called to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity. It tells of God providing them the Ten Commandments to know how to live. And it tells of His Plan and Promise to bring the Israelites into the Promised Land. While I was reading on this in the first 7 chapters, I came upon an interesting verse that really spoke to me.

In Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 22, Moses is speaking to the Israelites telling them how they will be able to get into the Promised Land. You see, at the time it was inhabited by a number of nations that were bigger, tougher, nastier and more entrenched than the Israelites could hope to be. They were a small nation that had been working as slaves of the Egyptians for generations. It would be reasonable to think that it would be impossible to take that land and inhabit it. And yet, Moses shares,

“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.” Deuteronomy 7:22 NLT

There are so many things that I love about the verse.

1. The Lord had told Moses up on Mount Sinai that He would be fighting their battles. He understood their incapability to take on the task of clearing out the entrenched nations. He was not going to watch from afar but would be going out with them taking what was impossible and making it a reality.
2. He tells them that He will be doing it little by little. It is going to be a process. It won’t all happen overnight. It will take time, but there’s a reason for it.
3. That reason is the safety of His people. He knows that removing all the obstacles immediately for them would make them vulnerable. They would be exposed to other dangers they probably weren’t thinking of.

I reflect on this with my journey in battling Type 2 diabetes. There have been many times where I’d wished, “God, why can’t you just make this all better? Why do I see others living however they want while I struggle? I have a picture of what I can be, but every time I look in the mirror, I don’t see it. Why?” And as I let my brain calm, I start to hear a still small voice say to me, “I’m making you stronger Jason. You’re building the endurance to go far. I’m guarding your feet from all the traps along the way. I’m with you in this.” I am so glad that I have a Father in heaven who cares enough to keep me safe as I walk this path.

Contact me if you would like prayer or to know more about the man who raised the dead, heals the sick and fights our battles little by little.

Please share, like and comment below. I’d love to hear how God has helped you in your battles.