The problem with relationships is that they all take place right in the middle of the story of redemption - God's plan to turn everything in our lives into instruments of Christlike change and growth. Our relationships are lived between the already and the not yet.
Already Jesus has come to save us, but his saving work is not yet complete. Already the power of sin has been broken, but the presence of sin has not yet been eradicated. Already we have change in many ways, but we are not yet all we will be in Christ. Already we have learned many lessons of faith, but we don't yet trust God fully. Already God has established his kingdom in our hearts, but that kingdom has not yet fully come.
Our life with others is always life in the middle. We are always building the community in the tension between God's already-and-not-yet grace. And we have no more control over the not-yet than we have had over the already. The timetable is in the hands of the sovereign Lord of grace. Our job is to learn how to live in the middle. We live as broken people who are repaired, among neighbors in the same condition - always thankful for what has already been done, but ever aware of our need for what we have not yet been given.
[Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp from Heart of the Matter]
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