I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 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 23:27–30
In this context, God has just finished giving the Israelites a list of commandments regarding their behavior in the Promised Land. Here God reveals that He will indeed drive the out the Canaanites as promised, but that He will not do it all at once, but only “little by little” (v 30). When we put ourselves to work on a large project, we like to see immediate results, but often there are obstacles that must be taken one at a time over a long period. A garden does not sprout overnight, but we see “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4:28). The education process begins with the ABC’s and continues for a lifetime. When one decides to lose fifty pounds, they cannot be lost all at once, but rather ounce by ounce. This principle applies in spiritual areas as well.
Israel did not become a mighty nation overnight. God told Israel that He would not drive out the Canaanites “in one year” (v 29) lest it revert to a wilderness even more difficult to tame than the pagans who inhabited it. God would allow Israel’s enemies to take care of the land until Israel was ready to take possession. God also knew that that which is too easily acquired is seldom appreciated: “An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (Proverbs 20:21). God knew that the struggles involved in driving out the inhabitants of Canaan would be beneficial to this young nation.
One does not reach spiritual maturity overnight. Some 2½ years ago, Jaina and I made several trips to the pediatrician with six-month-old Bethany, who was refusing to eat and was losing weight when she should have been gaining it rapidly. After three days in the hospital and visits with various specialists, the problem was diagnosed and easily corrected. Do we show as much urgency in the absence of spiritual growth? Peter says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Paul speaks mournfully of the fact that there are some who, spiritually speaking, still need to be nursed at a time when they ought to be capable of feeding others (Hebrews 5:12–6:1). For us to grow, we must be nourished from the beginning with the Word (1 Peter 2:2). We must also understand that growth takes time. As Isaiah said, “Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:10).
Congregations also need time to grow. Dedication and patience have brought the Elizabethton church to where she is today. How difficult would it have been if all her growth had taken place within her first year? Who would have been prepared to take the oversight of such a body? The Lord (typically) only gives us one child at a time, and He will usually make you wait at least a year before He will give you another! Just as our families grow slowly, so must the family of God, and if He is patient enough to wait for the Word to produce fruit and to let that fruit mature, we must be patient as well––patient with our own slow spiritual progress and with that of the church. “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).