Okay, seriously. Who doesn’t want a big ‘ole but? And I’m not talking about the kind you get from ice cream and chocolate.
I’m talking about the conjunction – BUT.
Now I am deeply discouraged, BUT I will remember you. (Psalm 42:5,6)
The righteous person faces many troubles, BUT the Lord comes to the rescue each time. (Psalm 34:19)
B-U-T. It’s such a teensy-weensy word that can have a HUGE impact. It can be the difference between depression and joy. Between victory and defeat. Between hope and discouragement.
All through the psalms we see that word a lot, especially in King David’s writings. He never denied his trials. He put them out there for all to see.
“I’m depressed. I’m discouraged. I’m without hope. Woe is me. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen Nobody knows my sorrow.”
He never stayed there, though. He didn’t lose his but.
BUT God!
When we stop with the problem, it’s nothing more than a complain fest. If we stop there, it can get dark real fast.
No, the king wasn’t a whiner. I’m glad he didn’t hide his problems, but I’m thankful he kept talking.
He’d look his giant right in the face and say, “You may be big, BUT my God is bigger, and you can’t stay. It’s only a matter of time before you’re outta here, so don’t get too comfortable in my life.”
I’m beyond gleeful that he didn’t lose his but! It helps me remember mine when I’m in dark places.
I have a good friend who had a bad case of poison ivy. It was dreadful…oozing, goozing, seeping poison ivy, and she couldn’t get any relief no matter what she tried.
Minutes turned into hours as she researched it. I’m sure WebMD told her it would kill her somehow. Don’t you just love the internet?
As she was analyzing and scrutinizing every known cure on the worldwide web, the Holy Spirit nudged her and said, “Ummm….when are you going to look at the promise?”
Ouch!
The heartaches and heartbreaks and obstacles that we encounter can be so all-consuming that we forget we know Him. We forget the promises we already have.
And the bigger the mountain, the more it takes control of our thought life and then our decisions until we end up in a heap on the floor covered with a blanket of gloom, despair and agony on me with hopelessness as our pillow. Disheartened. Depressed.
We don’t need to ignore it. That’s not what I’m suggesting. It’s there all right, and there’s no denying it.
We do, however, need to be more fascinated with our God than the mountain. Be more captivated with the One who can change it than what needs changed.
Let’s be more mesmerized with the Healer than the sickness.
More enthralled with the Provider than the need.
More enchanted with our Hope than what is making us feel hopeless.
B-U-T reminds us to cling to hope like an anchor. It reaches behind the curtain and into His presence to flood our life with His peace and hold us steady until faith is made sight. A BIG ole’ BUT is essential.
Don’t lose your BUT.
This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place.
(Hebrews 6:19)