But ... What A Powerful Word!

After the phone rings, you answer, and then prepare yourself to hear the results of your job interview, you find yourself listening to one complement after another. You try to not get your hopes up, but that's really hard to do. Finally, after the interviewer goes on and on and on with his complements, he utters one word which tells you everything you need to know. That word is "But." Even though you did well in school and at your previous job and even with the stellar recommendations, you just were not what the company was looking for. And even though you kindly listened to what came after the "but," you had already given up on the conversation.

In situations like this, "but" is a negative thing. Oftentimes, however, this one, single, powerful word is a great thing. Such is the case repeatedly throughout God's word wherein God paints a scene of potential despair only to interrupt the text with the one word that changes everything. Appreciating the power of "but" is incredibly important in terms of our relationship with God.

In one of the best known Biblical stories ever, God floods the world. The scriptures tell us that God was "fed-up" with humans since the only thing they thought about was evil (Genesis 6:5). God was "sorry" that He had made man and decided He was going to destroy both mankind and animal alike (Genesis 6:6-7). Finally, in the next verse, the Bible makes a simple statement: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). In the entire world, God found this one man and, with His grace, decided to spare the life of he and his family. In our own world, filled with unrighteousness similar to Noah's time, it's refreshing to know that we too can find grace in God's sight.

In his second letter, the apostle Peter writes, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise... but is longsuffering toward us" (II Peter 3:9). We have God we can count on to NOT be like us. We are oftentimes slack and don't always follow-through with our promises. Not God! He is different and far better. In spite of all that could go wrong, if we continue to faithfully serve God, He is waiting for us hoping that we will return to Him. Indeed, each of us should be ever-grateful for "but;" it's our connection to our Creator's longsuffering.

Perhaps the best known Biblical verse is an additional testimony to the power of the word "but". In describing His Father's love, Jesus reminds us that God gave His Son so that we wouldn't have to perish "but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Without any doubt, God wants us to live and to spend our eternity with Him. He does NOT want us to perish. What an incredible amount of love! And indeed, what a powerful little word!