Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker
We often hear someone say, “I’ve got bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?” Mom would always tell me the positive ending of a catastrophe before giving the scary details. For example, she’d call and say, “Your Dad’s alright, but yesterday he fell in the garage and hit his head.” Several years ago, a guest speaker was invited to share his story at church. He spent the majority of his time sharing the horrible things he’d experienced in life, and then the last few sentences were about the miracles God had performed in the midst of his nightmare mess. As I left the building, I thought, “I would’ve rather heard 10% of the horrible and 90% of the wonderful ‘but God‘ part of his testimony.
The word ‘but‘ in scripture usually introduces the gracious and powerful intervention of God. There are many ‘but God’ scriptures and these two three-letter words are some of the best in the Bible. The phrase ’but God’ means that when everything seems broken, useless, and hopeless, God gets involved and brings a miraculous change of events in our life. Here are a few examples:
In Genesis Chapter 7, God sent the flood and all the living things and people on earth were destroyed. He wiped out everything and everybody that wasn’t in the ark. The only people who survived the catastrophic flood were Noah and his seven family members. “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede“ (Genesis 8:1 NLT.) God doesn’t forget us when we go through a personal chaotic storm.
However, simply knowing the promises of God is not the same as believing and standing on them. When we take God at His Word, we have what it takes to overcome overwhelming odds. “God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG.) There’s an unfortunate tendency among some Christ followers to keep God in a tiny box with a lid. This practice actually limits what God can do for us. Living an abundant life is a team effort with God as our I AM. We have to be united in purpose, obedient, and not bucking His system. He never intended for us to try to carry our burdens alone. When we take our hands off the mess and give it to the One who holds us in His hands, we’ll eventually experience a ‘but God’ outcome. Take the lid off and let God go to work.
God is a Redeemer and a Reverser. He takes people and circumstances and turns them completely around. BAM! Joseph’s brothers and others treated him cruelly and lied about him. After many years of God’s continual intervention in Egypt, Joseph was finally promoted and was able to say to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20 NLT.) God literally took Joseph from the pit to the palace.
When Paul reached Macedonia he was exhausted from the troubles he’d experienced at every turn. And then He said, “But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6 NLT.)
The Key: Let’s focus on the bigger ‘but God’ story when we find ourselves in a mess.