Little by Little

By the ArborSpring Leadership Community

June marks ArborSpring’s eighth birthday. We were birthed as an official 501(c)3 religious corporation in 2007. In some ways, we thought that by now we might be further along in our development. In other ways, we are amazed at how much the Lord has accomplished through us and grown the ministry. Our inner healing prayer ministry, spiritual direction, mentoring, leadership consultation, workshops, and retreats are well established; our circle of contacts has increased; and, most importantly, God is using ArborSpring to restore, transform and equip people for kingdom life, ministry and mission.

At our recent board meeting we looked at Exodus 23:23-30, from which the title of this article comes: “Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land” (v. 30).  The Lord told the Israelites that he would not remove their enemies all at once, lest the wild beasts take over and the land become desolate. Instead, in his timing, he empowered them to conquer their enemies, and eventually possess the land promised to them.

We are indeed grateful for God’s provision and grace as we have moved ahead, little by little. We have come to appreciate this biblical principle of “little by little.” We recognize that if the Lord had given us the envisioned retreat house initially, “all at once,” we would not have had the ability to sustain it. We would have been overcome by the hungry animal of finances and been drained of our time, energy and other resources. But, God, in his wisdom, has been enabling us to “increase” over time as he did with the Israelites, so that we will be in a position to “take the land,” the property he will provide.

In our board meeting we not only looked at the little by little principle relative to ArborSpring, but also in light of our personal lives. We invite you to read the Exodus passage as well and ask the same questions we did: “What is the ‘land’ I want to possess or that God is giving me to possess?” “Where in my life have I seen the principle of ‘little by little’ in operation?” “In what ways have I seen God act to ‘drive out the enemies’ before me?” As you pause to ponder these questions, we pray that the Lord will speak to you, and your heart will become full of awe and gratitude, just like ours.