Scripture Reading: Luke 17:1-37, Daniel 7:13-14, Acts 1:6-11
I love a good fantasy novel. Most of the time, life as they know it is over for the main characters the second they discover a magical power or dusty wardrobe in a spare room. It definitely helps that evil is usually defeated within 500 to 800 pages (give or take a few books if it’s a really great series) and the boundary lines between good and bad kingdoms are clearly defined.
As we live in God’s kingdom, we aren’t afforded the same luxury of my beloved fantasy lands. Sometimes it’s hard to discern where God is, what His voice sounds like, and why He would let certain storylines play out. Life goes on whether we’re struck by tragedy or joy. With that, I can’t help but relate to a religious leader like the ones in Luke 17 wanting something as important as the coming of the kingdom of God marked on their calendar.
I’m thankful for Jesus’s answer: “For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21). It is not “here” or “there” (v.21) and so confined to a specific place, time, or action. By referencing Noah and Lot, I see Jesus reminding His disciples that their work is made up in an ordinary life that goes on while waiting to see God’s kingdom fully realized. There’s no waiting to participate in its goodness—it’s possible to brush up against the kingdom of God as we eat, drink, marry, buy, sell, plant, and build. Jesus brings His kingdom and its purpose into the stuff that makes up our everyday lives.
Though great corruption plagued Noah’s generation and Sodom is synonymous with debauchery, Jesus reminded us of evil’s fate in those stories: The ways of the wicked were brought to justice, and the people who trusted in God’s righteousness saw His glory. While we know we haven’t experienced God’s kingdom in its fullness, it is alive and well right now—if we only have the eyes to see where He might already be working. We enact the kingdom when we listen for God’s voice and obey His direction in our lives.
So whenever you grow weary of our generation’s version of this perpetual brokenness, I urge you to draw comfort from the fact that Jesus’s kingdom has already come into the middle of this mess. Like Jesus anticipated, we long to see the day when He will come again (v.22). And it’s especially hard to remember that we don’t have to “follow or run after it” (v.23). God’s kingdom is in our midst. We do not have to make our life secure (v.33), for He has already secured us.
Where can you step into God’s kingdom today?
Written by Kayla De La Torre
