The "already but not yet."
Facing the "hasn't been."
Instead of simplistically dichotomizing things as black or white, the Lord's allowing me to see the gray. And as things start revealing themselves more in a spectrum of grays, I see that I can hold different truths--one does not threaten the other. I notice this in various aspects of my life, and they all seem to point back to the biggest parallel: the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.
There is the joy and triumph of the resurrection, but there's also the weighty theology of the cross--the waiting, the mourning, the silence.
Especially in this day and age where tragedy is far too commonplace, we are called to a paradoxical posture of fully mourning without dismissing hope. To hold both the cross and the resurrection just like Jesus did when he wept upon hearing that Lazarus passed, even though he knew full well that Lazarus would rise again.
There is an appropriate time and posture for everything. Holding this, I ask: Lord, what do I do in my questioning about healing?
I see the truth that healing in the name of Jesus is both biblical and possible. He's given us the authority, and we can place our faith in a God who is able and mighty. But I also see the truth that we are in the "not yet"--that the healing doesn't always happen in the "now," and my concept of time is far more limited than God's. In His timeline, healing and redemption of our bodies always comes. Always.
Maybe not now. Maybe not in this lifetime.
But there must be some intrinsic value in the waiting and longing, where true intimacy is often formed and the hidden parts of one's heart are unveiled and made vulnerable. Enough value where there's no need to paint things over with simple platitudes or parrot the phrase: just have faith.
Maybe it's not just "faith" that we need, but simply being present in the waiting. And though waiting and mourning are temporary, He calls us to mourn with the hurting because it is part of the inbreaking of glory. In the waiting, we are becoming who we are--fuller and more defined as He's crafted us.
It will always take the power of Jesus to bridge our already but not yets.
The present parallels that are set before us, both simple and complex.
Lord, help me walk with thee.
Help me to be fully aware of the now
but never forget my Home.
