Now and Not Yet

1. Embrace the "Now and Not Yet" Reality

God is purposeful about what happens between today and tomorrow, between right now and someday.

The Tension is Real. Life is often a blend of what we hope for and what is currently true. This creates a tension between our desires and our present circumstances. Recognizing this "now and not yet" reality is the first step to navigating it with grace and purpose.

• Longing for a different job, a healed relationship, or a more fulfilling life are common experiences.
• The key is not to deny these longings, but to acknowledge them while still engaging with the present.

Right Now Matters. It's easy to get caught up in planning for the future or dwelling on the past, but the present moment is where life unfolds. God is actively working in the "now," even when we don't see immediate results.

• Every interaction, every task, every challenge is an opportunity to grow and learn.
• Don't discount the value of the mundane or the difficult; they are part of God's plan.

A Better Way. Instead of numbing ourselves with distractions or trying to control our lives, we can embrace the truth about God's presence and purpose in our unwanted circumstances. This involves leaning into the present, trusting God's timing, and actively engaging with things that don't come naturally.

2. Restlessness Can Be an Invitation

God wants your heart more than he wants your dreams to come true.

The Root of Restlessness. Restlessness often stems from a fear that God doesn't know best or that He's withholding something good from us. It's a core belief that we can't truly rest until we secure everything we think we need.

• This can manifest as a constant striving for more, a dissatisfaction with the present, or a fear of missing out.
• Eve's desire to be like God, to attain wisdom for herself, is a prime example of this restlessness.

True Rest. Jesus offers true rest for our souls, a freedom from anxious striving and the fear that the Good Life will pass us by. This rest comes from trusting in God's provision and surrendering our self-reliant ways of accessing more.

• It's not about passively accepting our lives as they are, but about actively choosing to rely on God's grace.
• Augustine's famous quote, "You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee," captures this longing for God.

Naming the Source. To find true rest, we must be honest about why we're restless, naming what we think we don't have, and talking to the Lord about those "not yets" in our lives. This involves a process of self-assessment:

• What circumstance is causing my restlessness?
• What underlying identity or self-worth issues am I struggling with?
• Is the remedy found in myself or in Him?
• How can I stop scrambling and start resting right where I am?

3. Hidden Doesn't Mean Forgotten

Hidden doesn't mean forgotten by God.

The Allure of Visibility. In a world that values influence and platform, hiddenness can feel like a disadvantage. We often measure our worth by downloads, impressions, and followers, leading us to believe that our lives and ideas only matter if they reach a large audience.

• Social media amplifies this pressure, making it easy to compare ourselves to others who seem to be taking their giftings further and faster.
• We long to matter, to have our days count for something more than the mundane tasks of everyday life.

God's Purpose in Hiddenness. Scripture is filled with examples of faithful men and women who were seemingly hidden from their full potential, yet not forgotten by God. David, the Samaritan woman, Hannah, and even Jesus himself spent significant periods of their lives in obscurity.

• These hidden years often proved to be extremely fruitful, preparing them for their future roles and shaping their character.
• God uses obscurity as much as He employs visibility, if not more.

Embracing Hiddenness. We must be prepared to stay hidden or to welcome hiddenness should it become a reality. This involves intentionally cultivating the hidden places of our lives, worshiping in secret, and investing in soul care.

• It's about recognizing that visibility, multiplication, and platform aren't the only roads that lead to impact.
• God can accomplish all that He wills without bowing to algorithms or the best hair and makeup.

4. Growth Happens Even When You're Not Blooming

You don't have to be blooming to be growing.

The Bitter Seasons. Sometimes, limitations are brought on by loss or heartache, burying us in the silence of a painfully bitter season. It's easy to question the necessity of these seasons, feeling as if we're wasting time.

• The Simons family experienced this when Troy's contribution to a school he helped found came to an end, leaving them feeling benched and forgotten.
• It's during these times that we must remember that God is still at work, even when we don't see visible fruit.

Sowing with Intention. Paul's words in Galatians 6:9, "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up," offer hope. We have a choice to sow seeds of bitterness or seeds of faith, obedience, and trust.

• This involves self-discipline, forgiveness, love, and hope in a God who will work it all out for our good.
• We must trust the process, even when we can't see the results we hope for.

Embracing Limitations. Limitations come in different forms, from chronic pain to caring for elderly parents. It's important to embrace these limitations instead of running away from what God has already given us to do.

• Ask yourself: Am I running away from what God has already given me to do? Do I see an opportunity that doesn't require maneuvering and forcing? Will I sacrifice faithfulness in the areas God has already given me to steward if I pursue more?
• Remember, slow growth is still growth.

5. Someday Is Built From Thousands of Right Nows

Someday is made up of thousands of right nows.

The Myth of Overnight Success. We live in an instant world, where we can have long nails, luscious hair, and a tan in a single afternoon. But true mastery takes time and intention. The myth of overnight success is a lie sold to us by gurus hoping to convince us they have the formula for fast-tracking results.

• The "10,000-hour rule" highlights the importance of practice, but it's not just about putting in the time; it's about effective practice with a master instructor.
• We need someone other than ourselves to help us learn how to take our skills and abilities and hone them into fruitfulness.

Training for the Race. As believers, we're running a race toward a finish line where the prize is God's glory and a commendation for a life lived by faith. This requires discipline, trusting God, and obeying Him right where we are.

• Paul encourages us to take every thought captive, die to sin, and put on love.
• When we stop thinking about someday like a mirage and acknowledge the true finish line, we'll begin to see every right now as an opportunity to train for victory.

Practice a New Pattern. Sanctification, the process of becoming more like Christ, happens slowly, progressively, day by day as we establish new patterns of thinking and doing. This involves practicing obedience and trusting God to change our lives.

• We participate in God's work of sanctification by being doers of the Word, not just hearers.
• Pressing in with action right now, however small the next step, is the mark of a believer undergoing the transforming work of sanctification.

6. Chaos Can Produce Character

God holds all things together.

The Illusion of Control. We often imagine that if we could just get on top of our lists, figure out our unknowns, decrease our stressors, and calm our chaos, we would somehow feel at peace. But all the planning in the world can't fully prepare us for loss, pain, or disappointment.

• Our plans can convince us that we're more in control of our lives than we actually are.
• We're tempted to believe that if we can create some sense of certainty, we will experience peace instead of chaos.

Strategic Instability. A neurological study found that instability and a lack of predictability are necessary to kickstart the brain to learn and flourish. When we feel angst, instability, or restlessness, our brains are activated to learn something it would otherwise ignore.

• Instability offers opportunity.
• God often uses obscurity as much as He employs visibility, if not more.

Trusting the Trustworthy. At the heart of our need to control the outcome is an innate desire to avoid pain, loss, and worthlessness. But if God knows what we truly need, and He promises to give us exactly what will bring Himself the maximum glory and us the maximum good, then trusting Him should be easy.

• We can either trust fully in ourselves or trust wholly in the power of God.
• Trust requires surrendering to the one who knows best and putting your confidence in the fact that He will do what He says.

7. God's Callings Are His Enablings

God's callings are his enablings.

The Unlikely Called. We often doubt our capability in the roles God has given us, feeling inadequate or unqualified. But the Bible is filled with men and women who lacked what they thought they needed to accomplish the work God was asking them to do.

• God calls the unlikely on purpose to accomplish what would be impossible without Him.
• Abraham and Sarah's inability to have children, Rahab's past, and Paul's history of persecution are all examples of God using unlikely people for His purposes.

Directing Your Gaze. We must let go of our own sense of qualification and just follow God's lead. This involves directing our gaze toward God and His point of view, away from our own perspective.

• Ask yourself: Where am I setting my gaze? What am I fixated on? What's capturing my heart? How do I view my gifts and abilities?
• Directing our hearts begins by directing our gaze.

Embracing Insufficiency. God offers us His strength in our weakness. His power is on display in our lack. He is enough when we come up short. In the kingdom of God, weakness is a superpower.

• Paul boasted in his weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon him.
• God's purpose in not granting Paul's relief was for Paul to find the Lord sufficient for the struggles he faced.

8. The Desert Reveals What You Truly Thirst For

God uses the desert not to harm us but to form us.

The Desert Experience. Some of us are on a journey that feels like continual longing, continual thirst, and endless need. It feels like wandering in the wilderness. The desert is not a season; spring is not on its way.

• The Israelites' forty-year journey in the desert is a picture of God's heart for those who wander in the wilderness of waiting, wanting, and feeling restless for more.
• The desert was supposed to be a short piece of the journey, but it became a picture of God's absolute provision and deliverance.

Purpose in the Parched. God was after the Israelites' hearts, their trust, their belief, their faith, and their obedience. The desert proved to be a powerful place of purpose for God's people.

• God provided for them daily, with manna and quail to eat, clean water, and His protection and guidance.
• His provision was meant to lead them to dependence and awareness of His presence.

The Desert's Revelation. God allows us to feel barren desperation in the desert so that we might run to the oasis of His provision. The desert often serves to reveal a heart issue: what we think we can't be happy without.

• It reveals the comforts, idols, and treasures we lean on for sustenance.
• We want to trust, but not the doubts that lead us there. We want to see God provide, but not the insufficiencies that reveal His faithfulness.

9. Flip the Script: Rewrite Your Inner Narrative

The story God is writing is better than our best-laid plans.

The Greatest Influence. We are influenced by the words we read, the music we listen to, the images we see, and the conversations we have. But the one voice that has the greatest influence in our lives is our own.

• Paul David Tripp said, "No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do."
• You are constantly listening to the conversations inside your head, the narratives you're telling yourself.

Preaching Truth to Yourself. Preaching truth to yourself means taking your thoughts captive in order to remind your own soul who God is, who you are in Christ, and what is actually true about His purposes in your life.

• This is how you fight in the war for your attention and affection.
• It's a proactive action that will not automatically happen.

Out of Alignment. We can fall out of alignment spiritually, much like our bodies do when something is out of place physically. The symptoms are pain and lack of mobility.

• The root issues are: We let our feelings boss us, and we don't really know the truth.
• We must assess whether our feelings are speaking the truth to us or whispering lies.

10. Start Where You Are: Cultivate the Present

Where you find yourself tomorrow starts with what you choose today.

God's Instructions to Exiles. In Jeremiah 29, God instructed the Israelites living in exile to build houses, plant gardens, marry, and have sons and daughters. This was a call to abide, to settle in, and to build a legacy.

• It was a reminder that everything begins at home and in the home of our hearts.
• God's direction was about cultivation, not location.

Seeking Peace and Prosperity. God also told His people to seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which He had carried them into exile. This was a call to live and love right where they were, in obedience to God.

• It involved befriending, loving, and serving people who didn't love their God.
• It meant prioritizing their neighbors' dignity, well-being, and opportunity to flourish.

Just Start, Even if Poorly. Taking the first small step isn't always easy. We tend to get overwhelmed by all that's before us and either feel paralyzed with inaction or just give up.

• G. K. Chesterton said, "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
• Anything worth doing is worth starting now, even if you're not good at it.

Last updated: February 25, 2025