Romans 8:28 (CSB)
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
There are no setbacks in Kingdom Living; only setups. When you are seeking first the Kingdom of God, He is weaving everything together for your eternal good and Kingdom purpose. You may not recognize it in the moment, and at times it may seem like everything is going wrong in this world, but in reality everything is going right in the Kingdom of God. God is sovereign; He is in control of everything, and everything in His Kingdom is working out for His good purposes. So when you are participating in Kingdom living, you're experiencing the sovereign hand of God guiding every facet of your life in real time.
When Things Get Uncomfortable
1 John 2:15 (CSB), “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Don't get too comfortable! Not with this world system anyway. If you do, your heart will not be stirred towards the Kingdom of God. Before God delivered the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He first made their lives miserable. They were living in Goshen, which was the most fertile and beautiful area in Egypt. But over time, it became a land of enslavement. God had to make life in Goshen painful. Pharaoh had to become even more evil. This was God's way of weaving all their circumstances towards the Promised Land.
Broken Hearts and Kingdom Love
John 15:19 (NLT), “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
The Bible makes it clear that being comfortable with, and loving this world is incompatible with loving God. And in His sovereignty God will allow the “Egypts” in our lives to become irritable and unbearable, to weaken our attachments to this world. He will allow hardships, afflictions, and disappointments because sometimes the most loving thing God can do is allow this world to break our hearts. You see, when the things of this world break our hearts, we naturally long for a Kingdom that won't break our hearts. This may be the launchpad for stirring our hearts to seek first His Kingdom.
The Reality of Heaven Over the Illusion of Earth
Isaiah 40:8 (CSB), “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”
It's hard to wrap our minds around the fact that everything in this world is fading and temporary, while everything in the Kingdom of God is eternal. The most difficult aspect here is that we are in our flesh, and our flesh is in this world. Everything we physically feel, see, hear, and smell are of this world. Some of these things are really good things, they’re good gifts from a good God (James 1:17). But we must discipline ourselves to keep in mind that everything of this world is fading and temporary.
A good way to maintain an eternal perspective is to ask yourself, “What’s going to matter two-minutes after I die?” There are a lot of things that Kingdom people are really worried about today that won't matter two-minutes after they die. It won't matter where they lived, what kind of house they lived in, the car they drove, what other people thought about them, or their social standing in this world. What will matter? Only the things of the Kingdom of God will matter, not just in that moment but for all of eternity. You see, the Kingdom of God is eternal, and when you're engaged in Kingdom living here and now, it is something that will matter then and there.
Leaving Goshen
Hebrews 11:24-26 CSB: "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward."
Maybe you're going through some trials and tribulations here and now. It might seem like you're making bricks without straw. Keep in mind that this is not a setback but a setup. God is preparing you for Kingdom living. Don't settle for Goshen today, because God has something incomparably better for you. When you seek first the Kingdom of God, you must be prepared because God has some wonderful Kingdom surprises in store for you, not only then and there, but here and now.
"So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18 CSB)