LITTLE BY LITTLE

Dining with Jesus Christian Episodes

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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Lord, give me patience. Woah. Are you sure you want to pray that prayer big boy? That is a loaded thing to ask for from the Lord. Why is it something that should give us pause? Because patience is not like a new t-shirt, you cannot just pick up and put it on all at once. Patience must be earned over years of trial and testing. So it is with many of the gifts that the Lord desires to impart upon us. 

We want strength and wisdom, but these too, cannot just be handed to us; they must be earned through times of trial and perseverance. The Lord is calling us to great things, but we will only receive them as we take each important little step. 

This was the principle behind the following message given by the Lord to the people of Israel as they looked into the Promised Land. 

27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.

(Exodus 23:27-30 NIV11)

Parts

Let’s look at this message in its component parts:

Verses 27-28

The Lord was actively leading his people from the front. The Lord was going out in front of his people, preparing the land, preparing the people, and preparing the way for the children of Israel to overcome the obstacles that lay before them. 

While the Lord was at work, the people were also being called into action. 

The people were being called by God to seek faithfulness in all their ways and to work hard to overcome the obstacles that came into their path. What the people accomplished in their journey with God was more than they could ever have accomplished on their own. 

The Lord was with them, leading them, and making possible all that he asked of them. 

Verses 29-30 

While the Lord promised to lead his people in power, the Lord knew better than to simply hand his people the land, cleared of all enemies and opponents. 

God’s plan was long term. The Lord did not offer the people a quick fix. The people were not ready to take possession of the land yet. They needed to increase in number and strength in order to take and then defend the land promised by God. 

The land needed to be subdued one section at a time or else the people would be too spread out, too disorganized, and too weak to defend the land from those seeking to take it away. 

Verse 30

“Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” – Exodus 23:30

In God’s wisdom, he moved one step at a time, leading the people forward in such a way that would learn how to possess the land in a healthy and faithful manner. The Lord knew that the whole land would overwhelm the people and would cause them to lose connection with one another. 

Little by little

With each step, the Lord would work in the people to make them stronger and more capable. They were not yet strong enough to accomplish the whole will of God, but over time, with faithfulness to all that the Lord called them to do, they would become strong enough. 

Principle

Strength is not something we can possess all at once.

Maturity in life and maturity with the Lord grows as we make progress along the journey God has called us into. As we obey each successive command of the Lord and follow in each step that the Lord takes in front of us, we grow and become mature. 

It is in the ups and downs, in the victories and in the trials and challenges, that the Lord works in us to build us up and shape us into the people we need to be for the life that he calls us into. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, help me to see your little steps. Help me see your hand at work as you are carefully guiding me along your path. Help me to be patient with your careful leadership. Help me to not push back or be impatient, but rather to see that you are leading me like you led your people so long ago. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH


Worked at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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