Seeing the Kingdom of God

"The Kingdom of God is like a Now and Later candy..." This was our youth group lesson on Sunday. Our youth minister shared that the two were similar in the sense that you get to experience the Kingdom now as we live this life and later with Heaven. It was a really great lesson, especially for middle school students. After the lesson, we broke into our groups to discuss. Being an adult leader, it is always interesting to see how the students will react to different lessons and the questions posed. One of the questions posed got me thinking. The question was what are times in your life that you have seen the Kingdom of God here. Most of our students responded with answers relating to church camp, mission trips, and big moment experiences, but then a question popped into my head, that I asked the students.

So, how do you guys see the Kingdom of God in your everyday moments?

And, as they stared blankly at me (in their defense, class was an hour earlier than normal), I realized that many of us are not actively looking in our everyday moments and lives for the Kingdom of God. I, as many of us do, tend to rush through my day focusing on what needs to get done, where I need to be, and what demands I need to meet. Often times, my vision is so laser focused on what is straight ahead, that I miss all of the beauty around me. I miss the little moments where God's kingdom has already broken through into this hurting world. I fully believe that God's kingdom shows up in the big moments church camp, mission trips, living into a life long dream, weddings, births, and so many more. But, surely, it is not just in those. The times when I have had eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to receive, when I have slowed down enough to look around, I can see that the Kingdom of God is all over the place. It is in the warmth of the sunshine, the chirp of the birds, the whisper of the breeze, the bloom of the flower. It is also in the mom who lovingly holds her screaming child that can be heard rows over in the store, the dad who comforts his kids in grace and love, the smile a stranger gives when she can tell you're having a bad day, the person who doesn't respond in anger when he was wronged, the friend that walks with you in the difficult seasons, and so many more. The Kingdom of God is so much more than all of these examples too. I truly believe it is all around us waiting for us to see it, engage it, and help make it more and more of a reality in this world. Because when we start seeing the Kingdom of God, we start bringing the Kingdom of God to every corner of our worlds. While our worlds may feel or be small, they still have a place here, and I never want to underestimate the impact that my little world can have on this big one. And, neither should you. We all have a point of impact here. No one is too small. So, may we be people who look with eyes to see, listen with ears to hear, and open our hearts to receive the Kingdom that is here and now, so that we may continue to bring the Kingdom to our corners of the world here and now.