Then and Now | In Between
IN BETWEEN
Then and Now
Between: At, into, or across the space separating two objects or regions; in or along the space separating two objects or regions.
In Between: Situated somewhere between two extremes or recognized categories; intermediate. It’s an intermediate thing.
In Between: The in between is the season between what was and what will be, where God is actively shaping who you are becoming.
The in-between is where your past ends, your future hasn’t arrived, and God is forming you in the middle.
SOUL TATTOO: The in-between isn’t a pause in God’s plan, it’s part of it.
Isaiah 43:18–19 (NIV) 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland…
Philippians 1:3-6 (NLT) 3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
We’re not stuck, we’re being shaped between seasons.
3 In Between Thoughts:
1. God uses what was to prepare us for what’s next.
God will use what we’ve been through, but He won’t let us stay there.
2. The “In Between” feels unclear, but God is not absent.
Just because you don’t see movement doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
3. Formation happens before fulfillment.
God does His deepest work in the waiting.
SOUL TATTOO: The in-between isn’t a pause in God’s plan, it’s part of it.
Genesis 50:19-20 (NIV) 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Joseph spent 13 years in the in-between, being prepared for a moment that would change everything.
Joseph spent more time in the in between than he did in the dream.
ADAPT – Let go of what was.
You can’t carry yesterday’s expectations into today’s reality.
GROW – Trust God in the unclear.
God grows you in places you wouldn’t choose.
BECOME – Step into who God is forming you to be.
God isn’t just changing our situation, He’s changing us.
SOUL TATTOO: The in-between isn’t a pause in God’s plan, it’s part of it.
Paul the Apostle:
ADAPT – Paul had to lose his old identity before he could live in his new one.
GROW – God developed Paul in private before He displayed him in public.
Galatians 1:15–18 (NIV) 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days.
Paul didn’t step into global influence overnight, he spent over a decade in preparation before most people ever heard his name.
BECOME – Paul didn’t just start a mission, he became the man God could trust with it.
Paul didn’t step straight into purpose, he was shaped into it.
SOUL TATTOO: The in-between isn’t a pause in God’s plan, it’s part of it.
In Between Walkaway Keys:
Adapt – Release what was… Don’t run back to what was.
Grow – Trust God in what is…Don’t panic about what’s next.
Become – Step into who He’s forming you to be…Stay faithful in what’s now.