Little by Little, by Don Cartledge, LAC Cuba Network

Don and Jacquie Cartledge, LAC Cuba Network

     

      In the devotional book, "Faith's Checkbook" by Charles Spurgeon, the November 23rd entry is titled, "Acquiring Perseverance" and he uses this text from Deuteronomy 7:22 (KJV):

"The Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee little by little."

  Spurgeon begins by saying that "we are not expected to win victories for the Lord Jesus by a single blow."  We are inclined to want to land a "knockout punch" and to win the battle in a single stroke, but the body blows we land over the duration of a 10, 12 or 15 round fight will take their toll and "little by little" win the victory.

     Sometimes we are called to simply carry on the war through years of labor, fighting with all our might, and little evidence of success.

    He continues by saying that our business in this world is "to conquer it for Jesus."   We are to be involved in pushing back evil by waging an "unceasing war with iniquity" and this is what we are to "put out."    But only God can make this happen through us: "Jehovah...will put out those nations before thee."

     And so we come to the key principle of "little by little."    God works by degrees, always from lesser to greater so that we can "learn patience, increase in faith, earnestly watch and avoid carnal security [leaning on the arm of the flesh]."

    This takes place as we "thank God for a little success and pray for more."  Spurgeon urges us to:

 "never sheathe the sword till the whole land is won for Jesus."

    We must take heart then, going on little by little, for "many littles will make a great whole."

    Let us echo and live in the light of the "law of cumulation" as expressed by basketball legend Bobby Knight, "The result of many little things is not little."