The "BUT GOD..." Card
Dear Friends,
One of my friends sent me an email about someone having committed suicide and I wanted to relate to you what I shared with her. This is awesome!
It’s sad to hear when anyone has gotten to the point in their lives where they "want out". I know... I’ve been there... BUT GOD...
Isn’t that a wonderful answer to every problem we have??? "BUT GOD...."
If only we would use this phrase all the time AFTER we hear bad news...
"The doctor says I’m sick… BUT GOD..."
"No one loves me… BUT GOD..."
"I’ll never accomplish anything… BUT GOD..."
The phrase "BUT GOD..." is like swinging open the door to the gospel--the GOOD NEWS that plays like the Ace of spades in Spades, completely overwhelming and canceling out whatever has been played.
Some people have played the "race card" and some play the "gender card" threatening sexual harassment, but we Christians, sons and daughters of God, have the ultimate trump card... the "BUT GOD..." card.
I’m getting stirred up just thinking about all the passages of Scripture that use this phrase!
Say it over and over again in your mind... "BUT GOD..."
Train your mind to revert to this phrase for everything in life--even in good times.
O, how sweet the sound, "BUT GOD..."
David, in his struggles, wrote, My flesh and my heart fails, BUT GOD is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. [Psalm 73:26]
Faith uses the "BUT GOD..." card constantly as Abraham did when faced with the seemingly impossibility of fathering a child at the age of 100.
Who against hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, ’So shall your seed be.’ And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was a hundred years old; neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; BUT was strong in faith, GIVING GLORY TO GOD, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. [Romans 4:18-22]
The prophet Jonah used the "BUT GOD…" card when he was faced tragic circumstances. His own rebellion had caused him to be swallowed by the great fish. Jonah was surrounded by negative circumstances, but he chose to turn to God's promises, referring to his circumstances as "lying vanities" in comparison to the Truth of God's word, saying, They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. [Jonah 2:8]
When we fail to observe our natural circumstances as "lying vanities" in comparison to God's word, we are forsaking God's power to change those circumstances. Too often we exalt or give more weight to our natural circumstances over God's word by saying, "I know the Bible says, 'By his stripes we were healed.' BUT the doctor says I'm sick."
Just as the phrase "BUT GOD…" trumps what is communicated before it, the same occurs when we turn it around. Like I always say, "It all depends on where you put your 'but.'"
Elisha the prophet also utilized the "BUT GOD..." card when he and his servant were surrounded by enemy soldiers (2 Kings 6:8-19). Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant to the same truth. This is what I’m encouraging you to do...
If you constantly meditate on this powerful and life-changing phrase, the Lord promises life and peace...
You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. [Isaiah 26:3]
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [Romans 8:6]
