Embrace the in between

Celebrate the already, put your faith in the not yet, and embrace the in between. I absolutely LOVE what God has for us in the in between. I have been so caught up lately in what this world is going through and in my own self-focused life that I forgot for a moment about this idea of the already and the not yet. About what we get to live into each day and the beauty in that.

On the first official school night of the year last week, I of course was up at all hours of the night. Getting back to a normal sleep schedule always hits me like a truck in August. I was going to turn on Grey’s Anatomy but, instead something nudged me to open my bible app and I came across this verse:

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

And this concept of the already and not yet was quickly brought back into the forefront of my mind, of what we have in Christ, about who we are in Christ. About what He already did on the cross for us and about what He has promised us in the not yet of eternal life. See, it is not about what we see in the in between that gives us hope, rather it is what Christ has already done for us and what He has promised is yet to come. It takes radical faith to live in this hope during our in between. But, when you do, when you have that radical faith, the light of the world will seep into every ounce of who you are. Jesus’ light will shine so brightly on you that your in between will be beautiful no matter what trial you face. It will simply be your soul being renewed each and every moment of your life so that one day, you will stand in perfect completeness with God. Don’t take my word for it, stop right now and go read 2 Corinthians 4.

It is all right there, in Paul’s words to the people of Corinth. But, more relevant, to us, in this day, in our in between. Paul is speaking to you and to me. He tells us that we are living in a world that the devil is trying to take hold of. We are living in a world where we are pressed on every side by our troubles, but…there it is again, but, God. What does He have for us in this world then?

Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:10

And in this season, we are being renewed. Our hearts, our spirits, our bodies. We are walking towards the not yet. And we fix our gaze on what will last forever, Jesus. And in that, we never give up. We don’t grow weary, we don’t lose hope. Because even in the darkness there is light. One of the darkest places in the world I have ever been to was Haiti, yet this is what I wrote when I got back from there, “The love these children give is life changing and the way they deal with suffering is inspirational.”

These kids had almost no one to give them love, so where did they get there love from? How did they learn to give love to others? In my eyes, there is only one answer and His name is Jesus. As I reflected on that, I realized that if these kids can be empowered by the Holy Spirit, then so can all of us. So can I, so can you. Jesus brings so much hope to this world and although I do not know what you are facing today, I do know that your in between can be beautiful. It should be beautiful, because it is. And in God’s love, we never give up.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-4

With love and blessings,