Whenever I hear that term “baby steps” I can’t help but think about the movie “What About Bob?” and Bill Murray repeating those two words over and over. It was his encouragement to himself that his major fear issues could be overcome with just baby steps. And then, of course, if you’ve seen the movie, you know at one point he has himself tied to a sailboat’s mast to help conquer his fear of water.
The idea is that the little steps along the way will get you to your bigger goals. What struck me as interesting was the other day when, during my devotional time, I read a passage of Scripture where God essentially says the same thing to His people – the Israelites.
They had just gotten out of Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land. God had already declared that He would provide this land for them. They would go in and fight the current inhabitants who were opposed to God and He would give them the victory. But God wasn’t without a plan in all of this.
Check it out:
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. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:29-30)
Maybe you’re not like me, but this threw me off a little bit because God sounded so…practical. I’m not sure why that should have seemed strange to me. God is, in fact, the author of practicality and order. But it just seemed that God was laying down a very practical plan where I would have expected to see a very spontaneous miracle.
It would be rather awesome if God had just wiped out the enemies in some huge, stunning way with a single sovereign swipe. But that wouldn’t work. Then all the cattle would roam wild and would need to be gathered back in. And the fields would get overgrown. Why? Because the people weren’t ready to be fully inhabitants of the Promised Land.
And that’s when it became personal for me. And I believe that’s when you can find how this matters to you.
You may have huge dreams or even God-given expectations for your future. Maybe you are sensing that God wants to do something larger than life in your very own life. Great! I believe that if we are following God then those should really be expected. But you should also expect that you may have to wait.
Things may not move quite as fast as you’d hope. They may not be as flashy as you’d expect. That dream coming into reality may end up being a matter of a number of really practical steps along the way. That’s still God working!
God may realize that you need to slowly get your finances together or you’d just blow a ton of cash if you were suddenly out of debt. He may make the path to a restored relationship with a family member a longer one so that you really treasure it when it’s been restored. He may have you work for a while on that task you’ve been called to so that you can be chiseled down into the leader who will be able to handle with humility and character the acclaim that will come with success.
Remember, God is the God of the big, huge amazing! But don’t forget He’s also the God of the baby steps.