The flood waters prevailed, but God remembered and brought him to dry land.(1)
His enemy intended it to harm him, but God intended it for good.(2)
The battle is not yours, but God’s.(3)
Your flesh may fail, but God is your strength.(4)
We were dead in sin, but God saved us.(5)
i have come to believe that those two words – “but God” – are actually a powerful promise to those of us who are His children – particularly when we are facing the impossible. Multiple times throughout the Bible, those two words are preceded by a statement that, left to stand on its own, describes an ominous reality. Then and now, that reality can be a terminal disease, an undefeatable enemy, a ruthless attack, a tragic turn of events or devastating news of any kind.
Apart from those two words, the situation or circumstance is pretty much “a fait accompli”. Apart from those two words, Noah and his family would have drowned, Joseph would have remained a slave or a prisoner, and the Israelite people would have been overrun by a great horde. Apart from those two words, disease would be free to accomplish its worst. Apart from those two words, sin and death would be undefeated. Apart from those two words, there would be no hope, and there would be little, if any, joy. Apart from those two words, our eternity would be bleak, and our fates would be sealed.
As Paul said, apart from those two words, we would be dead in our trespasses and our sin. Apart from those two words, we are to be pitied because there is nothing we can do to escape the inevitable. Apart from those two words, we are locked in a prison from which there is no hope of escape.
But God … made a way. By His mercy, by His love and by His grace He has the final word. As our Creator, He has power over disease. As our Crucified Savior, He has defeated sin. As our Risen Lord, He has defeated death. As our Almighty God, He is able to accomplish anything and everything in a way that brings Himself the greatest glory. As our Banner, He goes before us to lead us. As our Shepherd, He walks with us to comfort us. As our Rearguard, He goes behind us to protect us.
But God … will see it through. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He has proven that what He begins He completes. He has demonstrated that He is willing to do whatever it will take. He has already shown that He is willing to give all that He has to accomplish His purpose – after all, He gave His only Son.
But God … will always have the last word. We will never know the truth of any situation until we have heard from God. He is the One who made the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise. He is the One who defeated the mighty Egyptian army and a giant named Goliath. He is the One who made the walls of an impenetrable city come tumbling down. He’s the One who made the sun stand still and the storm to stop. He will do whatever He needs to do to bring Himself the greatest glory … even when we can’t see how.
But God … can be trusted, because He is trustworthy. God’s action or words may not be the ones we wanted to hear. That’s when we need to trust that He’s God … and we’re not. He endured the anguish of allowing His own Son to be brutally beaten and spat upon. He permitted Him to be put to death on a cross. All for our ultimate good and His glory. And no matter the outcome we may immediately experience, we can be assured that even this situation that we are encountering will end the same way – for our ultimate good, and His glory.
You may be facing the impossible right now. You may be walking through an impossible journey. My prayer for you is that you will hold onto those two words … but God! Because “but with God, ALL things are possible!”(6)
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(1) Genesis 7:24-8:1
(2) Genesis 50:20
(3) 2 Chronicles 20:15
(4) Psalm73:26
(5) Ephesians 2:4-5
(6) Matthew 19:26
Photo by Jerry Zhang on Unsplash