It's here but not yet.

I visited a church in another county the other day and happened upon this neat little display.

The actual paper taped to the wall had backward text. I looked in the mirror on the wall and then was able to read the text. It was definitely a 'double take' moment. After reading the scripture verse and pondering its meaning, it became clear to me.

Life is filled with uncertainty and ambiguity. Day to day survival requires one to interpret these two foes. How is it done? Understanding God's kingdom is always the best place to begin. The 'here but not yet' conversation needs to occur.

We who believe Jesus is Lord and have submitted to His work on the cross understand the Kingdom differently than those who are still living estranged from grace. Reconciled women and men are the Kingdom of God as we live out our faith in ministry and mission. We work for the Kingdom and in the Kingdom. We also work toward the day when God's Kingdom is fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven.

We are like subjects living in an incomplete sentence. The form is there but something is lacking. As long as we are still here working on earth for God, we'll always have an incomplete or backward view of all that God has awaiting us in heaven. The paper taped to the wall with backward text is a good reminder of our plight. The mirror definitely helped right the situation and one day we will have our understanding of God's glorious grace made completely clear. Confused yet? Hopefully not.

If your life isn't aligning with your hopes and dreams, try aligning it with God's will for you and the world and see if things don't begin to clear up a little bit. Eventually when we allow our lives to be fully used by God, the backward texts of life begin to become legible and make more sense to us. We're always moving toward the full realization of God's Kingdom. Our 'to do' list starts with: Submitting to God, being patient, staying alert, keeping focused, and always praying.