I’ll never forget my first choir solo. I was a teenager in our small church choir, and the director gave me one verse in Sunday’s anthem. The chorus to that song has stuck with me: “It was little by little, minute by minute, for little is much when the Lord is in it …”

Little did I know that those words would sink into my soul, reminding me not to rebuff God’s seemingly slow work in my life.

Accepting God’s unhurried pace in response to my urgent requests doesn’t come naturally to me, and it also didn’t come naturally to the children of Israel.

Accepting God’s unhurried pace in response to my urgent requests doesn’t come naturally to me,
and it also didn’t come naturally to the children of Israel.

God made some big promises, and then He took His time.

In Exodus 23, Moses continued the Book of the Covenant laws that God gave him on Mount Sinai. These rules were meant to prepare the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land. After recounting some of these laws, the chapter shifts gears to record God’s special promises for Israel.

Talk about some big promises! They included the promise of an Angel (which I Corinthians 10 indicates was none other than Jesus Christ), Who would bring them into the land and deliver them from the people there. Other promises included provision for bread and water, no sickness, and the blessing of children.

Then, God said this: “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land” (Exodus 23:29-30 NKJV).

Wait, what? After all His promises for miraculous provision, God held up a “slow” sign on the route to their delivery.

Oftentimes, God asks us to wait too. Wait for a door of opportunity to open. Wait for the spouse we’ve calloused our knees praying for. Wait for the baby we long for. Wait for the healing that never seems to come. Wait for God to satisfy the good desire that seems impossible.

I’ve waited for some of those blessings, and chances are, you have too. The truth is that we will always be waiting for something out of reach. Instead of waiting for something to satisfy us, we need to wait on the only Someone who actually can.

God has a purpose in the slow burn, and it’s for our good.

Did you catch the reason why God told the Israelites He would wait to bring them into all their inheritance? It was to protect them! If God drove out the inhabitants too quickly, they would not be able to care for the land or defend themselves against the wild animals who would multiply there.

So too, when God tells us to wait, He has a reason, even when our minds can’t understand it. In the wait, we can rest on the promises of His Word.

·  Isaiah 40:31 – Waiting on God renews our strength.

·  Lamentations 3:25-26 – Those who wait on God experience His goodness.

·  Psalm 62:1 – The wait reminds us that God alone is our salvation.

·  Galatians 6:9 – The wait produces a harvest in due season.

·  Isaiah 64:4 – God acts on behalf of those who wait.

True to His Word, God did bring the Israelites into the land. Here’s the irony: Though God strengthened the Israelites as promised, they did not fully claim their inheritance. “And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.” (Judges 1:28) This time, the wait wasn’t on God; it was on them. They failed to move where God had called them.

Sometimes, I wonder if God is waiting on me and not the other way around, waiting on me to trust Him and walk in obedience.

Sometimes, I wonder if God is waiting on me and not the other way around, waiting on me to trust Him and walk in obedience.

The Bible makes clear God waits for our good. “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him” (Isaiah 30:18). The question is: Will we accept when He works little by little?

Dear God,
thank You that You wait for my good. Even though I often beg you to respond right away to my prayers, I recognize that Your ways are higher than mine. Give me the grace to trust You more in everything that concerns me.
Amen.