Freedom in the Tension: What the ‘Already but Not Yet’ Taught Me Today

This morning, in the quiet before the rush of the day began, I opened up my worn copy of New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. The May 20th entry stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t dramatic or flashy. It wasn’t something I hadn’t heard before. But it was exactly what I needed.

"Forgiveness is complete. Final restoration is yet to come. Knowing you live in between the two is the key to a restful and wise Christian life." — Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, May 20th

That line hit me hard.

Because lately, I’ve felt stuck between knowing the truth and living it out. Between the hope I believe in and the struggles I still carry. Between the joy of salvation and the ache of ongoing healing. I’ve felt the tension of the "already but not yet"—and honestly, I’ve resisted it.

But what Tripp reminded me is this: that tension isn’t failure. It’s reality. It’s grace.

The “Already but Not Yet” – A Brief Explanation

In Christian theology, there’s a concept that the Kingdom of God has already come—but not yet in its fullness. Jesus came, conquered death, and offers us new life. That’s already happened. We are forgiven, redeemed, adopted.

But we still live in a broken world. We still battle sin. We still face depression, trauma, conflict, doubt, sickness, and death. Final restoration—when every tear will be wiped away—is not yet here.

This tension can be disorienting. It can feel like something’s gone wrong. But it hasn’t.

Why This Matters for Our Mental and Spiritual Health

So many of us live with an unspoken belief that we should be further along by now. That if we really trusted God, we wouldn’t still feel anxious. That if we truly believed, our depression would have lifted by now. That if we had enough faith, our trauma wouldn’t still haunt us.

But here’s the truth I’m learning—and what Tripp’s reminder helped reinforce:

God’s grace doesn’t skip the middle.

He is with us in the in-between.

You can be fully forgiven and still healing.

You can be completely loved and still struggling.

You can be new in Christ and still feel old patterns pulling at you.

That doesn’t make you broken or failing. That makes you human—a human in progress under the care of a faithful God.

My Personal Reminder Today

I’ve spent so much of my life trying to fix the tension. To resolve it. To get past it. But maybe the invitation of today isn’t to escape the in-between—it’s to rest in it. To stop fighting the fact that life is both beautiful and hard. That faith is both strong and sometimes fragile. That healing can be both miraculous and slow.

Tripp says, "Knowing you live in between the two is the key to a restful and wise Christian life." That’s the goal: not perfection, but wisdom. Not pretending everything is fine, but learning to rest even when it’s not.

Grace for the Middle

If you’re anything like me, you might be tempted to judge your faith by how much you feel or how consistent your growth seems. But what if we stopped measuring our progress by perfection—and instead, started looking for God’s presence in the tension?

The Gospel isn't just good news for the day we got saved or the day Jesus comes back. It’s good news for this day—the one where we’re still waiting, still healing, still hoping.

An Invitation

If you’re in that place where freedom feels promised but not fully present, I just want to remind you: you’re not behind. You’re not disqualified. You’re exactly where grace meets you—right in the middle.

Keep going. Keep trusting. Keep letting God meet you in the already and carry you through the not yet.

And if you want to explore more of these truths through the lens of mental health and faith, check out some of the other devotionals and workshops. That’s what we’re here for—to help people like you walk this road without shame and with hope.

Want Additional Daily Encouragement Like This?

This reflection was inspired by today’s entry in New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp—a devotional I often return to when I need truth spoken plainly and compassionately. If you don’t already own a copy, I highly recommend adding it to your daily rhythm.

New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp