I was talking to one of my dear friends recently, and we were lamenting the fact that, in our forties, we still deal with occasional face break-outs. It seems to be worse when stress levels are high or hormones are wonky, but nonetheless it’s frustrating still to have zits at my age. As my friend so hilariously put it, our bodies need to make up their minds whether we’re young or old. It’s not okay to have gray hair and pimples!

Sometimes it’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I’m already 40 years old. When I was growing up, I thought that 40 was “old as dirt,” which, when you think about it, is really “middle aged,” considering that the life expectancy for females in the U.S. is around 81. Thankfully, I don’t feel old as dirt, and I pray that I have many more years to enjoy my kids and future grandkids.

Do you ever forget that you’re a grown up? I do for brief moments sometimes. Maybe that’s weird, but occasionally I think of myself as a teen or young adult, and then suddenly it’s like I’ve somehow time-traveled into the future. I remember that I’m 40 years old and responsible for four little people, and I’m shocked back to reality. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun. 🙂 But those moments also reinforce how very brief our lives on this earth are. We are here for just a blip in time, and then we’re gone.

This makes me think of our place in God’s Kingdom. I’ve heard it described often as “The Already But Not Yet.” We are already a part of God’s Kingdom, but because we are held captive in these earthly, decaying bodies in this sinful, broken world we can’t yet completely experience all that the Kingdom entails.

Here’s an explanation of Kingdom Theology from Wikipedia: “Kingdom theology distinguishes between the world some believe to be ruled by Satan, the one we live in, and the world ruled by God, his kingdom. Kingdom theology holds the importance of the kingdom of God as a core value and teaches that the kingdom currently exists in the world, but not yet in its fullness. The theology maintains that the kingdom of God will come in fullness with Christ’s second coming. In the future fulfillment, evil and Satan will be destroyed and God’s complete rule on Earth established. Theologian and director of the Vineyard Bible Institute, Derek Morphew argued that the kingdom of God encompassed both signs and wonders and social justice. Although kingdom theology presents history as a struggle between God and Satan, there is an eschatological expectation that God will triumph over Satan, which is why suffering for the sake of the kingdom is accepted.”

I realize that’s pretty heavy, but we can basically boil it down to this: We have full citizenship in God’s Kingdom now. We can experience His power, see His signs and wonders (YES!), and hear His still, small voice at times, but when Christ returns for us, we will be transferred into the fullness of God’s glory and dominion. We will be made perfect. We will be completely healed. We will worship at God’s throne. We will see His face. We will be reunited with our loved ones who have gone before us. Oh, what a glorious day awaits us!

So, if you’re like me and you’re still dealing with pimples while suffering with changing hair color, take heart. Soon and very soon we will shed these perishable bodies and exchange them for glorious, perfect ones. Everything will be clear. Everything will be made right. No more sickness. No more tears. No more pain or heartache.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!