I Like Big But's and I Cannot Lie
I love words. I'm a huge fan of them, in fact. One of the things that I am continually working on is how I use my words. Unless I'm trying to negate something I just said, I don't use the word, "but." I really try hard to say, "and" when connecting statements rather than "but." It drives me bonkers when people speak a bunch of really great things only to follow it with a big "but..." that diminishes everything before it.
More often than not this is our struggle. We speak out a slew of promises, hopes, dreams, and the like only to follow it with our big 'but.'
An example of this is in Numbers 13. Spies are sent out to inspect the land that was promised to Israel and they return with fruit from the land and a report. The author writes, "27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Did you catch it in there? The land is exactly as the Lord promised, BUT. But the people are powerful. But our enemies fill the lands. But, but, but.
Even when one of the spies speaks forth in remembrance of God's promise, these other spies say it again, "31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
These are some big but's and some even bigger doubts, worries, anxieties, and fears. We see giants in our way and put our trust in what we can accomplish rather than in the One who promised and is faithful. We see part of the dream fulfilled and in our waiting for the remainder to happen we allow impatience to claim our hope for the fullness. Simply put, we believe more in what we see, feel, think, or claim to be true than in the One who is truth Himself.
And let me tell you, this One is faithful, true, and He has broken through. What He promises comes to pass. His Word does not return void. He finishes what He starts and even in our unfaithfulness, His faithfulness does not waiver. His name is Jesus and He is the Word of God in the flesh that is speaking, "But, God!" over our small outcries of "but this" or "but that."
Humanity cries out their own "but" in choosing sin. We had a perfect relationship, provision, and connection, BUT we choose otherwise. We continued to live in infidelity as the Lord pursued wholeness. God gave newness BUT we broke His covenant. God gave promise and hope, BUT we negated the promises with our activity.
Paul writes in Ephesians to explain this:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Sin was in our flesh, BUT GOD took on our flesh to reconcile and redeem us. Brokenness had permeated our lives, BUT GOD breathed His Spirit so that we could inhale wholeness. We continued to choose death and decay, BUT GOD chose death so that we might live. We said but, BUT GOD enacted the promises with His activity.
Friends, there may be giants in your promised land, there may be walls in front of your horizon, there may be waiting before your breakthrough, BUT GOD. If the giants are big, how much bigger is the God who promised you? If the wall seems surmountable, how much larger is the Lord who pledged the other side? If your moment of breakthrough is taking longer than expected, how much greater is the outcome the Lord is preparing?
Here's the point: God's BUT is bigger than humanity's but. This doesn't mean God chooses for you, it means that He desires breakthrough, victory, freedom, healing, hope, and eternity in relationship with you, and He's made a way for it through Jesus. This means that God has spoken a big BUT over sin, death, and darkness. This indicates that the Lord has greater things for us than we can imagine. This suggests that the Triune God of Love has demonstrated that love by speaking "BUT" to our brokenness.
What does all of this mean? When in doubt, don't speak "but," say the truth. The truth doesn't mean we ignore the present, it means we place it in the hands of the One who has promised a future. Saying the facts doesn't mean we overlook giants in the land, it gives us an opportunity to speak to the big obstacles, BUT GOD is BIGGER. We may feel it, we may see it, we may think it, or even experience it temporarily, BUT GOD is GREATER.
What is the truth that you can proclaim? I start off every day by declaring, "I am loved, I am connected, I am celebrated." The list could go on, but, just kidding, AND, I often do carry it on. I am forgiven, I am free, I am hopeful, etc.
There's really good news today: God has spoken, acted, and completed. We have also spoken, acted, and completed. The good news is that in the Lord's finished work we have a bigger BUT for our past than what we could ever accomplish. The good news is that no matter what is in our way, Jesus is faithful, true, and has broken through. The good news is that we are crowned with victory and the very ground we stand upon is the foundation of our Savior's love. The good news is that although I said, "but," so did my King and His "but" is bigger.
And, guess what? The good news inspires me to type, "I like big BUT's and I cannot lie." Align yourself with God's truth. You can bet your but on it.
