Living In The Tension: The Already and The Not Yet
August 3, 2025
Have you ever felt like you’re caught between two worlds—one full of beauty and breakthrough, and one still marked by struggle and delay? That’s not just your experience—it’s the Christian life. God’s future is already here, but not yet complete. And the Spirit helps us live right in the middle of that tension.
READ
Luke 17:20-21, Romans 8:18-25, Hebrews 2:8-9
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
REFLECT
1. Where in your life are you experiencing the tension between what is and what you long for?
2. Who has been a sign of God’s “already” presence in your “not yet” moments? How can you be this for someone else?
3. Can you imagine a church that lives as though heaven is already touching earth? How would our church or community be different if we lived like God’s promised future has already begun?
RESPOND
1. Consider your relationships where you can be a foretaste of God’s kingdom: offer forgiveness, extend welcome, or pursue justice—a foretaste of the kind of world God is bringing.
2. Name what still hurts or remains unhealed unresolved in your life and do not tire of bringing it to God. God honors your honesty more than your polished faith.
3. Join or create a small group where people can be real about both the already and the not yet of God's world now, and support one another in living it out intentionally.