So there is this guy I like. He likes me too.
We want to date each other. But we decided to wait — that God had some other things for us to focus on in this season. Which is great and all, but there is a significant difference between saying that you’re choosing to wait, and actually navigating the confusion of being friends and going through life with that romantic elephant in the room.
It’s challenging. My emotions long to move forward, but I know we’re not ready yet. I want to be his friend, but I also want to flirt with him and spend a lot of my time with him and share things in my life with him. Those around me don’t understand our decision or how to walk with us through it.
As we wait and wrestle and try to figure out how to operate in the in between where it’s “when” more than “if” but still “not yet” I start to think about the bigger ways that I’m finding myself in an in between. We are all in an in between.
And God waits for us and with us as we wait for Him and Jesus’ return.
As believers, we are in a place of “when” rather than “if” but still in “not yet.” We are already victorious in Jesus, yet we live in a world embroiled in battle. We get to spend eternity with God, yet still loved ones pass away and leave us behind.
It’s a heavy, challenging place to be in the already-but-not-yet. It is messy and complicated and confusing.
Yet it is also a special, beautiful time. We get this time because there is mercy and grace and love. Just like I have this time of waiting with this guy because there is grace and care. Without the grace and care, we never would be in this confusing middle section.
This time is a time when we get to experience an intimacy with God in the struggle that we won’t have once the struggle has passed. It is a time of growth and adventure and serving with Him. Because we are in the not-yet we get the privilege of glorifying Him in a way we wouldn’t have otherwise.
It is special. It is an honor.
I don’t know what you are waiting for. A relationship. Healing. Relief. Freedom. Clarity. Career. Family. Home. But in the already-but-not-yet, remember the bigger picture waiting you are in, and cherish both seasons of waiting. Seasons of waiting are gifts of grace.
Isciena Grace
Guest Writer
Isciena is a young adult who battles multiple chronic illnesses. She enjoys crafting, reading, and deep conversations.
