Are you wondering if it will ever happen? Maybe that is the question the Israelites asked as they faced their future.
God tells them what He would do and how He would do it.
“Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. 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. 31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.” (Exodus 23 v 24-33)
Sometimes we hold on to a promise bigger than our imagination. This is what the Israelites were told to do. They were told to believe they could enter and take the enemy cities that God had promised them. God tells them what He will do.
He will bless their bread and their water.
He will take sickness from among them.
He will give them a full lifespan.
He will send His terror ahead of them, so that enemies turn and run before a sword is drawn.
He will send the hornet ahead to clear the way.
These are wonderful promises, and today, with our modern minds, we ask impatiently, “When?” Perhaps they did too, because God answers before they ask.
“I will not drive them out in a single year.” Why not? Wouldn’t faster be better? God explains: the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply.
“Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”
This is how God still works in His people. We often want deliverance immediately.
More often, He moves little by little, not only clearing ground, but growing us to occupy it.
From the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, from the desert to the Euphrates.
He goes ahead of us. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).
Not all at once. But surely. Little by little.
