But God…

“But God…”

A phrase began to jump out at me each time I ran across it in my reading of Scripture: “But God…” I noticed that the phrase illuminated a contrast with God’s plans and ways and the world’s plans and ways. I recognized that we could have eliminated the need for the “But God” phrase if we had just begun with God’s perfect plan.

I did a search for the phrase, “But God,” in multiple translations of Scripture and found over eighty examples; each shed light on God’s sovereignty, grace, justice, and mercy. Here are just a few cases in point.

Beginning in Genesis 3, the serpent is questioning, “Did God actually say…” and the woman’s response includes, “but God said.” That should have been enough; the serpent should have been silenced by God’s Word. But he wasn’t.

In Genesis 8, the wickedness of mankind had resulted in a worldwide flood. “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

In Genesis 17, Abraham is asking God to consider Ishmael as a solution to the problem of Sarah’s old age and her not being able to produce offspring, “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac…”

Genesis 20 finds Abraham attempting to pass Sarah off as his sister in order to protect her. Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah; “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

Genesis 50 contains one of the more famous “But God” phrases in Scripture. Joseph is putting his brothers at ease when he explains, “You intended to harm me, But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Acts contains a few instances of the “But God” phrase concerning Jesus Christ, “But God raised him from the dead.”

Romans 5 states, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

One of my favorite “But God” phrases comes from 1 Corinthians 1:27. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Hebrews 12:10 declares, “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; But God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.”

Our sin requires correction. Thank the LORD for all of the “But God” passages, where His will is proclaimed against the backdrop of our need.