November 23

Acquiring Perseverance

The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you. — Deut 7:22 BSB

We shouldn’t expect to win victories for Jesus with just one blow. Evil ideas and behaviors don’t die easily. In some places, it takes years of hard work to drive out even one of the many sins that corrupt people. We must keep fighting with all our strength, even when we don’t see much success.

Our mission in this world is to win it for Jesus. We aren’t here to compromise but to fight against evil. We aren’t here to seek popularity but to wage an ongoing battle against sin. Infidelity, false religion, addiction, immorality, oppression, materialism, and lies—these all need to be driven out.

Only God can accomplish this. He works through His faithful servants, and thank God for that! He promises to do the work. “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.” He’ll do it gradually so that we learn perseverance, grow in faith, stay vigilant, and avoid becoming complacent. Let’s thank God for even small victories and pray for more. We must never put down our weapons until the whole world is won for Jesus.

Take heart, my soul! Keep going, step by step, for many small steps will add up to something great.