The kingdom has come and the kingdom is coming. It is here and it has not yet arrived. We are living paradoxes. I cannot put it any better than Alexander Ventner does in his book, Doing Healing:P
The tension and mystery of the kingdom is critical to a proper praxis and theology of healing. We cannot dictate or control healing yet we cannot accept or surrender to sickness. We pray with confident authority and expectation of healing for everyone, yet we are humble and honest, trusting God with the results as only God can heal. We do both at the same time. We instinctively try to resolve the tension by tending to “either/or” because “and/both” is messy. Too much kingdom now leads to arrogance and presumption, demanding healing as if on tap. Too much “kingdom then” leads to pessimism and fatalism, leaving healing to if it is God’s will/ Balance leads to neutralising of the radical edges, loss of risk taking, a passive middle road and theologically correct approach to healing. We too easily explain lack of healing by kingdom tension when we ought to push through in faith. Embracing both the “already” and “not yet” of the kingdom makes us living paradoxes. It is learning to live and minister in the overlapping of two ages: the power of the kingdom and the resistance of this age. It leads to persevering faith, optimistic realism, dependence on God, discerning the moment, honouring people’s dignity, respecting the unknown, and leaving the results with God
Phil Wilthew
From the book “Developing Prophetic Culture”