But God.......
The world has always been a crazy place but now more then ever we are seeing just how crazy it is. I’ve talked to so many people in the last few days who have fear and anxiety. Fear that they might catch Covid-19. Anxious about being stuck at home with all their kids for who knows how long. Fear that they might run out of food and then what. Anxious about not being able to work and having the money needed to live. We are all feeling it. This is a new place to be for each and every one of us. Uncharted waters.
Yesterday as I was navigating through this with a friend the words “But God” came to the forefront of my mind. Immediately I was reminding of the Psalms and how the Psalmist used it- Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, BUT GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” In Genesis Joseph uses the phrase when talking to his brothers who had sold him into slavery and hoped he’d die- Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, BUT GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Almost every single time “but God” is written in the Bible it is linking bad to good. It’s the bridge that links fear to faith and anxiety to peace and hopelessness to hope. But God! It’s our link to the these things as well. “I may run out of food while we are in quarantine, BUT GOD will provide all my needs just as He said He would. I don’t know what that provision looks like now, BUT GOD already has a plan and I can trust that.” “I’m probably not going to have enough money to pay my bills because I’m not working right now, BUT GOD will make a way and take care of us.” “I’m so afraid that I’m going to catch this virus, BUT GOD will be with me and His good and perfect will will be done.” “I can’t handle being trapped at home with these kids for three weeks or more, BUT GOD will sustain me and get me through each day, one day at a time. His mercies are new each day and now more than ever that’s a truth I need to remember. “
Finish your sentences, my friends, with the words that bridge your fears and anxieties to His hope and peace. Don’t believe the lies that enemy wants you to drown in. Grab the hope