The little by little principle

I must begin with the confession that this principle is not my creation; if it were, I would probably have named it the "Give me a lot...now!" principle. The "little by little" principle is this: everything worth having in life will require small investments over time, like building a house of cards. The other part of the principle is that an absence of making small investments over time leads to a slow death of the spirit. Most of us want the end product without doing the little by little everyday effort.

Far from originating with me, the little by little principle is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus when God tells the Israelites about how they will conquer the promised land of Canaan. Canaan was inhabited by a variety of people groups, many of which had well-trained militaries, giants, and other intimidating figures. God says, "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land" (Exodus 23:29-30). If God had allowed them to take over all of Canaan in just one year, they would not have had enough Israelites to tend to the land and livestock, which would have resulted in disaster. Instead, God wisely allowed them to conquer people groups little by little, which allowed for the Israelites to grow in numbers and experience, leading to success.

God has always been about the business of giving us a little at a time, that we might prove our faithfulness with a little and be kept from destruction, ultimately resulting in His glory. Professional card stacker Bryan Berg would be the first to say that you must be diligent in the small things (the individual cards) in order to produce a final product (the house of cards). This principle has many applications for our lives spiritually, relationally, and intellectually. First, we can apply the little by little principle to our daily times with the Lord. Reading the Word one day does not typically change a person, but reading it every day--even if it seems to be completely powerless at the time--does result in an intimacy with the Savior that can't be traced to a single moment, but years of moments that create something bigger than itself. Second, we can apply the principle relationally. I think particularly of parenting and how a well-mannered child does not just appear, but is the result of many minutes, hours, days, and years of discipline, love, modeling, prayers, tears, and triumphs. Third, this principle applies to our intellectual lives. My students often whine and wonder, "When will we ever use algebra in our lives?" and they don't realize that it's not about the algebra, but that algebra is a deck of cards used to create the house of education; without algebra, they have a wall missing.

The examples of the little by little principle are endless, but identifying this principle has given me such purpose and intentionality in the small stuff of life, giving it value. While I may be frustrated by the slow pace that this principle demands, any more than a little at time would be too much for me; like the Israelites, my give-it-to-me-now mentality would lead to destruction and depletion. As C.S. Lewis said, "Hell is getting what you want all of the time." I'm grateful that the universe functions under God's principles and not my own, or I would literally experience hell on earth.

(For the record, that's Bryan Berg in the picture standing with his 25 ft., 9 in. card creation--not surprisingly a world record. Check out the the video of him creating the capitol building at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA6UMC3Svbs)