I find myself using this phrase often: “But God!”

 

It’s not only when staring at an impossible situation, but also when I just feel like a wall is separating me from where I am trying to go. It pops up when life seems to tumble to the ground like a stack of carefully placed Jenga blocks, and always at the sound of a friends voice trembling to hold on to a tiny ounce of faith.

 

Recently, I desperately needed the reminder and began a search for the particular verse I well-remembered. There it was in Ephesians 2.

 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins. . . and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved . . .” (Ephesians 2:1,3;4-5)

 

There I found the drastic comparison between: Once I was this…"But God"…being who He is found me and made me alive. He turns it all around. He turns all of life around.

 

In search of this verse, I was amazed by what I found. The phrase “But God” is throughout the Bible. I find such hope when I shift my focus to God who is working all things together for good.

 

There is always a “But God” awaiting us. I need to be reminded and thought you could use a little reminding also.

 

I have prepared for you a few of my favorite “But God” verses. Keep them close to remind you that God is writing an entire story, not just the one difficult sentence that we are in the middle of today. On the other side of this one difficult moment awaits the rest of the God story. It’s good to remember that He writes the last line of every story. And I can trust my God with every detail of my life story.

 

Try this. State what is most overwhelming to you today and then grab one of the verses and declare it over your life.

 

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20