Exodus 23 Devotional

Kindness in a Slower Pace

“Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.”Exodus 23:30 (BSB)

The justice in Exodus 23 cannot be bought or pushed. No false report, no siding with the crowd, no bribe, and no tilting a case either toward the poor or against them (23:1-3, 6-8). Even an enemy's stray ox must be returned, and his fallen donkey helped up (23:4-5). Fields rest every seventh year so the poor can eat, and servants, foreigners, and animals rest every seventh day (23:10-12).

Then God promises to send his angel ahead of Israel to guard them and bring them to the place he has made ready (23:20). But he will not drive out the land's inhabitants in a single year. He will do it gradually, so that the land does not grow wild before Israel is large enough to fill it (23:29-30). God's pace can feel slow, yet here the slowness is a kindness, matched to what his people can hold. When his work in your life seems to come slowly, you can trust that it is paced by the same care.

To think about: Where does God's timing feel slow to you right now, and how might his pace be a kindness?