May 20 – Hope in the Now and Not Yet

Gregg’s Reflection

I’ve often found myself living in that gap between what is and what will be. Sometimes it’s a season of waiting for healing, for reconciliation, or for clarity. Hope doesn’t erase the longing—it lives alongside it, giving me courage to take the next step even when the road ahead is hidden in fog.

When I look back, I realize some of the deepest growth has come in those “in-between” spaces. I remember a time when a vision I thought was God’s leading began to crumble, and I was tempted to abandon the journey altogether. Yet, even in uncertainty, I sensed God’s presence—an assurance that He was still at work, weaving a story larger than I could see.

This is the “now and not yet” of the Kingdom. We taste God’s goodness here and now, but we also long for the fullness still to come. Hope keeps us leaning forward, trusting that one day the curtain will lift, and the promises we’ve clung to will be made complete.

Scripture

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:24-25

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

Ancient Quotes

Hope is the dream of a waking man.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, 1096b

Modern Quotes

Hope sustains us in the now and not yet.

Gregg Burch

Hope fills us with the strength to stay present, to abide in the flow of the Mercy no matter what outer storms assail us.

Cynthia Bourgeault, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God, p. 87

Journaling Prompts

• What is one promise of God you are holding onto in this season?
  
  
• How does hope change the way you live in the “in-between”?
  
  
• Where do you sense God’s presence in your current waiting?
  
  
• How can you encourage someone else who is living in the now and not yet?
  
  Is it cynical to hope, or cynical not to hope? How can you hope if you have a negative or jaded view of the world and its people? What would it take to restore your hope? Hope to the world?

👉 Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 20 Reflection: Hope