The What Is, and The What should Be - Makeshift Darkroom.com

The What Is, and The What Should Be

A Devotional Snapshot

by God's Little Boy
© MakeshiftDarkroom.com 2026
Posted 3/23/26

"I have seen servants riding horses, while princes walk on foot like slaves." (Ecclesiastes 10:7 CJB)

There are two things that coexist and make a claim to occupy the same space in this present world. These two things are, “the WHAT IS, and the WHAT SHOULD BE.” God has tuned this present world to the frequency of, suffering before glory, humility before honor, and loss before gain, and we see this reflected in the portion of the faithful on this side of a just recompense that is yet future. The cross comes before resurrection. Yes, God has ordered the “what is” to precede the “what should be.” This is for the purpose of demonstrating and putting on display the glory of God in His vessels of honor.

Oh, the volumes of profound meaning that are locked up in this one word – Should!

There are things that must be, for the present time, though justice requires otherwise. It is necessary that offenses should come (Matthew 18:7). The sovereignty of God, for the time being, has elected to defer what justice favors according to the settled order of things. There are many things that should be, but are not yet, because they are being displaced currently by the dreadful “what is.” This is a heavy stroke and a sore vexation to the rightful owners of the what should be. The settled order of right groans, and with the earth is disquieted under this painful necessity. We see in this the principle of delayed justice which tries and stretches righteous souls to the breaking point, and sets them afoot as prisoners of hope longing for their appointment to vindication. There are things that should be for the man whom God has made worthy - the righteous man who shall stand in the judgement and walk with Christ in white. (Revelation 3:4) But for now the “what should be” is prevented by the thievery of the “what is.”

There is a law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7-9). The man who sows can expect to reap a harvest unless the sovereign Lord of the harvest withholds the just increase for yet another season to come. Nevertheless, it remains true that the man who sows should have reaped a harvest regardless of whether or not it came to be. In this there is great agony in the hearts and souls that cry out from the depths to the God who remembers the way of the afflicted.

Christ the spiritual predecessor of the elect has led the way first, bearing the stroke of the “what is.” When Jesus came to the temple in Jerusalem he was met and withstood by the religious authority of the day. The Messiah that the priests and pharisees claimed to be anticipating was standing before them - The Son of David, the incarnate Son of God, the Living Word. Jesus, the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity came to his temple. He was the one for whom the temple was built to honor, yet coming to it he found no honor. He was present with the power to open their eyes and heal them, but they withstood him and received him not. What could they have done? What should they have done? They should have believed on him, and yielded the floor to him, sitting at his feet to receive his life. They had heard his words and his wisdom which was evidence that a greater than Solomon was present. They witnessed miracles as further evidence, yet they barred him from the temple that they had taken possession of for themselves and used as a religious high ground for personal advantage. They conspired against him and delivered him up to the Romans for crucifixion. This was the “what is” in Christ’s 1st advent that prevented the “what should be” reserved for his 2nd.

Christ should have been received by his own. He should have been honored for who he was. He should have been made the glory of the temple in Jerusalem before all of Israel just as He was the Shekinah glory in the tabernacle, and in Solomon’s temple heretofore. Yes, He should have been, because, in reality, He was and is. Instead, He was made to be the stone that the builders rejected. He was disallowed by the “what is” in the present necessity of God’s plan and will. When Jesus was raised to life again he appeared to his followers only. We see that he did not appear victorious to the Sanhedrin, or to Herod, or to Pilate. He has not (even to this present hour) received his full vindication from these enemies that had their way with him with the power given to them from above. This is reserved for a time future when Christ shall be revealed as judge in all of His glory, just as He should be.

Wouldn’t it have been out of place for Esau to retain the birthright? Or if Saul had killed David and retained the throne of carnality? Or if Joseph had died an old man in the Egyptian prison with his prophetic dreams left unfulfilled? What a senseless ending to those stories that would have been. Indeed, those things should not have happened. Thankfully, Jacob, David, and Joseph prevailed over their enemies, competitors, and circumstances. Do you know why? Because they should prevail, that’s why….. Do you know why Jacob, to whom God ordained the birthright, walked away a free man and with most of Laban’s wealth? It is because, in God’s universe, the man of faith should win. Even if he hadn't won because of some necessity in God’s plan, it would have still been true that he should have, because this truth endures forever.

Do you know why David, against all odds, prevailed in the contest that Saul brought against his life? Do you know why God took David from the sheepcote, gave him a military anointing, and preserved him in all of his perils, and made him His own choice as King of Israel? Do you know why the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker while David’s grew stronger and stronger until all of his enemies were subdued beneath his feet? Because all of those things should happen, that’s why.

Do you know why Joseph was delivered from all of his afflictions and was made the ruler in Egypt by pharaoh, and why all of his former oppressors were later subject to him? It was because it should happen; and everyone reading the Biblical account of these stories finds themselves rejoicing for the protagonist with a satisfied sense of justice. It is universally understood, by men and angels, and anyone else who is in touch with reality, that the good guy should win.

If the prize of the “what should be” is not realized in this life, the “should be” man can be assured that he too will also have his 2nd advent. His “what is” will give way to the “what should be” and what should have been all along, but for the present necessity of God’s sovereign will.