SOTM Devotional 3: The Tension of the Already (But Not Yet) Kingdom
Have you ever looked around and thought,
“This is not the way it should be”?
That ache in your heart?
That longing for something better?
That’s God’s Kingdom whispering to you.
Romans 8:22–23 (NIV)
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
Jesus once said, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
We pray those words all the time.
In church. At the dinner table. In moments of crisis when we don’t know what else to say.
But do we really understand the weight of what we’re asking?
We’re not asking for some distant, future utopia.
We’re not asking for God to swoop down, snap His fingers like Thanos, and make everything perfect.
When Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, He’s asking us to long for something that’s both already here… and not yet.
Let’s stop and sit in that tension for a minute.
Because this is where we live, right?
In the “already” and the “not yet.”
Already, the Kingdom of God has broken into our world. Through Jesus, the power of heaven is invading earth. We see glimpses of it — whispers of a better reality. In moments of grace. In acts of forgiveness. In the joy of community.
But at the same time… the Kingdom is also not yet.
Because when we look around, what do we see?
We see a world drenched in pain.
We see the news, and it feels like every headline is another reminder of how far we are from the peace and justice of God’s reign.
We look around at the violence, the poverty, the broken relationships, and wonder, “If the Kingdom is already here, then why does the world still feel like this?”
And that’s where the tension lives. Right there. In the in-between. The space between what has begun and what is still unfolding.
It’s like we’re caught in the middle of two worlds colliding.
We live in the gap between God’s dream for the world and our broken reality.
Between heaven coming down and earth still pushing back.
And yet… Jesus invites us to pray. To hope. To long for the day when the Kingdom will come fully, when heaven and earth will be one.
But that’s hard to hold, isn’t it?
Because we live in a world of waiting.
We pray, “Your Kingdom come,” but then we look at our own lives and see the messes. We see the things that haven’t changed, the pain that hasn’t healed. And we wonder, “When? When will this Kingdom break through? When will things get better?”
We live in the ache of the not-yet.
We carry it in our bones.
Yet, even in that ache, there’s an invitation.
When we pray for God’s Kingdom to come, it’s not just a passive wish for things to magically get better.
It’s a call to participate.
It’s a prayer that God would not only do something, but that He would do something through us.
It’s not just “God, come fix the world.”
It’s “God, use me to help bring some heaven to earth, even if it costs me something.”
That’s the scandal of this prayer.
We’re not asking for a comfortable, easy Kingdom.
We’re asking for a Kingdom that flips everything upside down.
Where the poor are blessed.
Where enemies are loved.
Where justice rolls down like a river.
And when we pray for that, we’re asking God to do something radical in us.
To strip away our selfishness. Our pride. Our control.
We’re asking God to make us agents of His Kingdom, in a world that’s not ready for it.
And that’s hard.
Because when the Kingdom comes, it messes with our lives.
It messes with our plans.
It forces us to see people we’d rather ignore. To forgive people we’d rather avoid. To give when we’d rather hold on tight.
But that’s the way of the Kingdom.
The thing is, this prayer is not just about grand, world-changing moments. It’s not just about some far-off future.
It’s about the everyday choices we make right here, right now.
Because in the small, ordinary acts of kindness, the Kingdom breaks through.
In the moments when we choose love over hate, forgiveness over bitterness, generosity over greed — that’s where heaven touches earth.
So we keep praying.
Even when the world around us looks like it’s falling apart. Even when the pain seems unbearable. Even when it feels like heaven is a million miles away.
We pray, not because we see the fullness of the Kingdom yet, but because we believe it’s coming.
We pray because we believe that the seeds of the Kingdom are already here, buried in the dirt of our everyday lives, waiting to sprout.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It doesn’t mean we don’t wrestle with the reality of a world that’s still so broken.
So let’s sit with that tension.
The tension of the already and the not yet.
The tension of a Kingdom that’s here, but not fully realized.
And in that tension, we ask: Where is the Kingdom breaking through in my life? Where do I see glimpses of heaven on earth? And where do I feel its absence?
Where are the places that feel like God is distant? Where do I feel the ache of the not yet?
And what if… what if God is calling me to be the one who brings a bit of heaven into that place? What if I’m the one He’s asking to be an agent of His Kingdom?
Maybe through an act of forgiveness.
Maybe through an unexpected kindness.
Or maybe through choosing to believe that even in the waiting, even in the not-yet, the Kingdom is coming.
Application:
What’s one way you can help bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth today?
Is there someone you need to forgive?
Is there a place where you need to show kindness?
Take a step toward living out the Kingdom today.
Prayer:
Father, help me to live in the tension. Help me to see where Your Kingdom is already breaking through, and give me the courage to join You in bringing heaven to earth. In the places where I see brokenness, use me to bring healing. In the places where I feel the ache of the not yet, remind me that Your Kingdom is coming. Amen.
SOTM Devotional 3: The Tension of the Already But Not Yet Kingdom was originally published in GoodLion Theology on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
