Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:30)
Little by little…
No one wonders at why it a baby’s first steps are unstable and wobbly. Adults intuitively know to sit perhaps only one step away (if even that) to catch and celebrate a baby’s first steps when he/she is first learning to walk. And then to slowly inch back one more step, and then another…ever-slightly increasing the “finish line” baby must reach before being caught, hugged and celebrated once more.
We also understand that a baby to “master” walking is a relatively slow process as well. Once a baby/toddler is able to walk, we understand that there is an ongoing “process” that needs to be continued to be walked out… Besides truly mastering the skill of movement itself (ie walking turning into walking faster and then running…without falling), there is also the matter of the baby actually physically growing, a process which while we can help it along by ensuring proper food and nutrition intake as parents, is otherwise a process pretty much out of our control.
One must wait before it isn’t ridiculously non-sense-i-cal to be saying to a baby/toddler (child, even), “Hurry up! Why are you so slow? Can’t you see we’re in a rush? What’s wrong with you???” (Not that there haven’t been moments where I have found myself guilty of this with my kids, in walking as well as in other tasks which I realize are also “developmental” and “growth” tasks…but at least I have recognized my need to repent and self-correct.)
Learning to walk (when one doesn’t yet know how to walk…or must re-learn how to walk) is understandably a process, one which happens little by little, one step at a time.
Learning to walk in new ways, to live according new/better ways, to grow and achieve true breakthrough, at any age or stage in life, is also a process, one which happens little by little, one step at a time, whether or not we understand this to be the case and why…
If/when we erroneously believe that we should somehow always be growing instantly, achieve breakthrough immediately, all at once…we risk our precious selves/lives being overcome and destroyed in the process.
If not actual physical consequences (i.e. falling flat on our face going way too fast for our legs to carry and risking injury), there are also the significant emotional consequences of over-expecting and over-rushing I see at play in my own life and in lives around me everyday.
When we think things should be happening faster than they are, we can grow prematurely discouraged, and we can load ourselves (and those on our team around us) with crippling shame, thinking “What is wrong with me/us/you? At this rate, I will never be able to achieve what I want!” This added weight (which oftentimes can fester and grow into a horribly ugly resentment/angry/ frustrated type of thing lodged in our hearts) can often ultimately stop us short in our tracks or become a weight dragging us down even more in our self-efforts to speed up the process.
When we outpace the plan that God has in His wisdom set before us (and which He will whisper to our hearts if we still ourselves to listen), we can initially run with amazing zeal and enthusiasm but quickly burn out… Until we learn a different way, we can try and try again to go about seeking change/transformation/breakthrough in the same way with the same results. Go fast, burn out, recover. Go fast, burn out, recover.
Exodus 23:28-31
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.
In my Bible Gateway search, “little by little,” I also found this Proverbs on how this principle applies to making money grow as well:
Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.
When we are able to understand, grasp and agree to seek and follow in His timing, that many things about “us” are set to grow “little by little,” then we can walk in peace and confidence, steadily forward, and never be on “our own.” And we can trust confidently that when He deems it time, then acceleration can and will occur without losing who we are and/or damaging our souls in the process.
Since we are already deemed worthy as is not to be walking it alone, honestly, whether or not we make it to acceleration is no longer a desperate striving, but simply a good progression of things such that as we become entrusted with more, we will be ready (in a happy, unforced type of way) for more to then be expected and asked of us (Luke 12:48b – “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”).
When we have this secret of contentment (see what Paul writes on this “secret” in Philippians 4:10-13), I believe we are also “free” of excess stress and accumulating emotional baggage that enables us to live and walk at the best pace that could be/is possible for our lives, period. Whatever that may be or look like.
This is an attempt to begin summarizing my basic understanding/approach to seeking growth and breakthrough in my life, from all those years of battling my way out of depression, my continual fight for greater healing and unity for my family, and also today for continual growth and breakthrough (post-depression) so that after I have finished fighting whichever of my own battles God continues to highlight to me, I can be more and more ready and equipped and able to thoughtfully engage in God’s battles to bring Heaven to Earth for other people He may one day give me the privilege of helping…
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My 2015 Baby Steps So Far
Often the first step for me to discern what are my “next steps” to take and grow in is to ask God to show me any “weak” points in me….to pray Psalm 139:23:
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
In my previous post, I shared 3 “words” I have on my heart for my not-yet-formalized list of “New Year’s Resolutions.” I wanted to explain that these “words” are vague-ish pictures I have as an answer to my prayer for this year, for how I want (and feel like I need) to be growing in this next year, in the sense that they are also areas I feel God has highlighted to me as “weak points” that need to be shored up to make the foundation of my being even stronger in Him than He has already helped me be up to this point…most likely for a good reason to be revealed at a later time when I’m good and ready, that will make this whole growing process more than worth the effort on my behalf.
Anyhow, here is a quick update on “My 2015 Baby Steps So Far”:
(1) A Time to Commit and Focus
I attended my first meeting yesterday to discuss my potential role, to find out what’s needed, hours that will be expected etc. Perhaps one of the more significant processes (and more difficult parts of our conversation) was trying to discuss and hammer down my job “title,” not so much for the actual title itself which in the end isn’t the most important thing to me, but to try to articulate what I sense my primary focuses ought to be–what I “want” (or feel God putting on my heart…) to be distinctive about my “role” especially in how I will be empowered to relate to and build up the church and our people.
In the end, I have already said “yes” to this role regardless of title or employment terms, because I am happily convicted this is a step of commitment and focus in ministry I sense God leading me to take, so the discussion for me wasn’t to figure out whether or not or even how this job will “work” for me, but more of just seeking to freely discuss, clarify and share my ideas and heart, and hear that of my new ministry partners as well.
As of now, I will be officially starting my new “job” next Monday…and I am growing more and more confident that and excited to see how everything will work out =)
(2) Searching out Signatures
Again I promise I will be explaining soon how this part of my vision is about so much more than just make-up….
But my journey has indeed begun with a lipstick shopping adventure that began with contacting a couple girlfriends re: their lipstick colors which stuck out to me and remained stuck in my head to this day, followed by a google search for my first major-ish lipstick/beauty blog exploration/reading, which has resulted in deciding on a few “pinks that pop out” more than my usual subtle pinks as well as finally buying my first red lipstick ever.
Besides needing to sum up my lipstick journey and its significance for you soon in a post of its own, my next “Searching out Signatures” adventure will likely involve running shoes and gear (and other work-out attire) because….
(3) Building Strength and Flexibility
…for my third “word” I offically registered last night for the half-marathon I decided I will train for and run this year in late June.
I have also bought vitamins (gonna try to share a bottle of Flinstones vitamins with the kids to get started and possibly foster a vitamin-taking habit before looking for “better” vitamins), and started taking my calcium which has been in my medicine cabinet for over a year (but isn’t expired!)….
I also have decided that as long as I can find good ones, I will be regularly buying berries this season to encourage more fruit-eating vs. chips and candy for myself and my kids (and my husband).
The other day I also spent some time stretching and attempted jumping jacks which didn’t seem to hurt my foot too much…but then there was more swelling in my foot afterwards…so for now I will finish resting it and in the meantime work on figuring out a good stretching routine, and maybe ask my husband to show me how to use his weights equipment in our basement for strengthening.
I also found, saved and shared a Facebook article on the “The Only 12 Exercises You Need To Get In Shape” which I want to look into more and possibly actually try out and then incorporate into my “training.” (I also want to try out a series of quick workout videos a friend from Church has posted up on her Blog, Style Worthwhile).I realize these days there is no “lack of information” especially with google at our fingertips, but the trick is finding things that are simple enough for me to do on a regular basis, and then actually getting myself to the step of trying them and then selecting exercises I can incorporate into a regular, systematic and sustainable routine.