Little By Little: take heart when Freedom comes slowly
Sometimes, I can get so frustrated that I’m not fully delivered from something yet! I can think, “But we’ve fought this battle before (and won it!). Haven’t we, Lord?!?”
“I will drive them out before you little by little,
until you have increased and are strong enough
to take possession of the land.”
Exodus 23:30 (AMP)
Ever experienced God’s deliverance but wondered why it’s not complete yet? I know that can be so discouraging! We want fully set free!!!
This passage in Exodus 23 gives me such hope and helps me understand why deliverance is not always a one-time-wham-and-bam event. Sometimes, it’s a slower process.
Years before my huge wham-and-bam breakthrough, I saught the Lord for healing and deliverance. And that’s when He planted this seed:
“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.” Exodus 23:29 (AMP)
He won’t drive them out too quickly because he doesn’t want them to become too numerous for me to keep at bay. I’ll explain.
While meditating on this verse, the Lord showed me a picture of a huge spider. (He showed me this 6 years ago right before my husband deployed. Today, I woke up hearing, “little by little” and I knew it was time to share this with you, my friend!!)
The Lord revealed that this huge spider was actually pregnant. I realized that if I just squashed that sucker like I wanted to, then tons of baby spiders would be scattered all around me! Those guys are little, but fast and “too numerous for me” (Exodus 23:29) and then they grow up to be more mama-spiders.
The Lord wants to kill the big, pregnant, mama spider with the slow lie-killer of TRUTH. Instead of just slam the big one with my shoe and then have to chase after all those little ones. Tracking?
Because you see, deliverance is not a just an event. It’s also a lifestyle. There are specific moments of deliverance where we get rid of the big beasts after us. And then, there’s the lifestyle learning to keep our minds submitted to God.
Like let’s use fear as an example. I remember the day the Lord delivered me from fear. And then I also remember the decade surrounding that event when He delivered me from fear.
I needed set free from the oppression of fear AND I needed set free from the beliefs and agreements I had made with fear.
The oppression-kind just have to go in Jesus’ name.
The agreements-kind take longer (for me, anyways). Because most of these agreements with fear need to be killed with a longer, slower, more painful death:
1. Exposed (Hmm… Why is this particular situation making me afraid?
2. Identified (Oh… It started way back when this happened to me.)
3. Targeted (Ah…That’s when I started to believe this lie. What exactly is the lie I started to believe?)
4. Killed (Boom! Crush the lie with the truth, over and over again.)
These require a deep soul-care that comes with spending time with the Father. The Holy Spirit will show you. When a memory keeps returning to your mind, ask the Holy Spirit why. He may be trying to expose an agreement in your life.
Buildling our faith muscles and becoming strong enough in the truth is what helps us keep the enemy at bay when he tries to come back:
“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land.” Exodus 23:30 (AMP)
That way, we are strong enough so that they don’t overtake us.
Little by little.
So be encouraged today! Keep doing the “little by little”! I can tell you by my own experience today… You WILL possess the land! Little by little! Keep at it, my friend!
To say “Be gone in Jesus’ name”… them are some mighty, powerful fightin’ words. There is infinite POWER in the Name of Jesus. But God’s also given us the infinite POWER of His Word. And He’s given us the chance to develop a real relationship with His Word as we apply the shoe AND the slow and steady dose of truth. They are both powerful weapons. But if you keep using your shoe, only to find yourself chasing after even more baby spiders, then maybe it’s time to take up your sword of Truth too? Just sayin’. This has been my life for the past decade trying to figure this out. I know it will bless you. So be sure to let me know about the victory you are having in Christ Jesus… His Name, His Blood, His Word, and just plain being in His Company.
Lots of love to you! Be strong in the Lord as you kick spider-butt today!
Take a minute to join the conversation below! Yall are so thoughtful, and I love to hear you process out loud!
Need more help identifying your old lies and agreements? Here are some of the most powerful resources I know about:
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Kairos Freedom Ministries
Know of other resources that have helped you with this? Please share it with us! I’d love to know.