“I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.” Exodus 23:27-30 NASB
It has been said that our generation likes things instant. After all we were born to instant coffee, instant noodles, instant milk, etc.. I however, think that this has been a problem for all generations, at the very least since the Exodus. The point is we have very little patience for process, for the journey. We want results, and we want them now. We love the God of “Suddenly”, the God of “at that instant”. We seek Him with earnest and love Him and celebrate when the speed at which HE works puts light to shame.
For over two months now, I have been thinking about this little by little. About these verses especially. God made a promise to the Israelites, He did not hint, or suggest, or mince His words when He said he would send his terror ahead of them, throw into confusion their enemies, and give them the land. He could not have been clearer, about what the plan was, and how He and they were going to accomplish it. There was going to be war, and they were going to win and take the land. However, He told them it would not be a quick process. It would not take a year, but many years… Little by little.
When someone tells me that something I want to accomplish will take a year, I want to faint. Give up right there and come back after 11 months so we can sprint to the finish line. I can take anything for a short time, but to be in the process for a whole year? Show me the door. Now. Needless to say, there are things I have not been able to do because I could not stay the path. Once the fire of the beginning was cooled, there was too little of me left to plough for the long haul.
Last week, as I was cleaning out the room I use as an office, I found a notebook I had not seen in years. When I opened it, there was the list of things I had planned to do on the house. It was written in 2012, and the timeline was 3 years. I can say right now that I was not in my right mind when I made that list lol. But as I read through that list, I realised that most of the things thereon had been cleared. Some as recently as the day before. It really brought these verses back to me, because it had all happened while i was not anxiously looking at the list, but going at each thing one by one, month after month, year after year. I was surprised and thankful and humbled, because yet again, a little done over a long time had borne fruit. There is still a bit to go, and some things have been scrapped off the list because we have evolved. But most of it is done. Truthfully, this is wisdom. It is all logical. It makes sense. But it goes against what I want and prefer. No one wakes up one day and wins a gold medal. Every athlete learns their sport, trains at it for thousands of hours unseen, improving day by day, until at one point they reach the top.
It is in the little by little, step by step that we learn the meaning of patience. Of perseverance. Of holding on even when it looks like nothing will happen. Of not quitting because it is taking so long. Because we know that we can trust Him who has promised to fulfill his promise. And we know that if we keep going and don’t give up, we shall reach the desired end.
Another thing that has brought this point home has been planting a garden. A very small garden. A friend convinced me I could do it, and I went and bought some seeds. With a lot of fanfare, we planted them, and then transplanted the seedlings. We bought a few more seedlings to go with them. And then the waiting began. In the meantime we had to water it twice a day. Finally after what seemed like a year, but in reality was a few weeks, we have begun to enjoy its fruits. The plants of course grow a lot faster that some of the disciplines we have to master, but the point is that each day, a little growing happens. Sometimes it is hard to tell if anything has even changed from day to day. But when you look back over a longer period, the little by little has a large effect.
So one of the lessons for me in 2016 is to learn to embrace the process, to cherish the journey, long and arduous as it may be. To stop and take in the sights along the way, and to celebrate each little triumph because it is leading to the ultimate goal. To not quit when the troubles seem more than they are worth, because they are building up character for the next stage. To know, beyond what I can see, that God is working and we are making progress. So that at the end of the journey, when I look back, I can see the little steps that led to the mountain top. To embrace the God of Little by Little.