But God?
“BUT GOD” moments follow a time of despair or crisis, signifying a pivotal change brought about by divine intervention. They reveal God’s ultimate authority and transformative power in seemingly hopeless situations. “BUT GOD” moments signify God's mercy, deliverance, and strength in adversity.
Stringing Pearls
The rabbis of old had a practice they called “stringing pearls.” They would string together passages from all over Scripture to explore great truths. They said when they did this that the words of Scripture were so excited to be together that they would burst into flames! (Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus p. 43).
Jesus did the same thing filling His teachings thick with references from Genesis, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms, setting His listeners ablaze with the dancing flames of His Word!
Now, it’s my turn to do the same—I want to string some pearls. I don’t have a single text, but a string of texts that all have in common the phrase “BUT GOD” and reveal that no matter how difficult our circumstances or how helpless our situation is, God always gets the last word.
“BUT GOD” is a holy conjunction that appears 48 times in the ESV translation of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. This phrase always appears after some statement of defeat or red alert emergency. It’s always after our human resources have been brought to their end and our circumstances have knocked us off our feet. It’s always after the curtain of hope has closed, but then the Holy Spirit writes in bright, shining letters, “BUT GOD,” and the whole situation changes into victory.
These two words, “BUT GOD,” are at the heart of the Gospel.
They are at the center of God’s conquering, overcoming power and part of Jesus’ story too: “…though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. BUT GOD raised him from the dead…” (Acts 13:28-30a).
American theologian James Montgomery Boice said, “If you understand these two words— BUT GOD—they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.”
Let’s look at some “BUT GOD” Moments in Scripture.
Scripture’s Greatest “BUT GOD” Moments
1) New Mercies Daily: A “BUT GOD” Moment for all Believers
“BUT GOD shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Ephesians 2 describes this pearl: “And you [and I] were dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once walked [letting the world tell us how to live, doing what we felt like doing when we felt like doing it]…BUT GOD being rich in mercy [undeserved kindness], because of the great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (commentary added). God’s mercy saves us!
My wife makes a delicious homemade apple cake, and it’s so heavenly that it will make your tongue slap your brains! The final step is to pour a hot mixture of sugar, butter, and vanilla that oozes through the cake. Every bite drips with richness! Some of us have forgotten to position ourselves under the pouring and drenching of His mercy.
His mercy not only saves us but sustains us in this troubled world. Some of us are striving rather than abiding in His fresh mercy, which is as fresh as a newly made apple cake and available for us today.
You may say, “It’s too late for me. " BUT GOD says, “My mercies are new every morning!” They are not just past but are presently being poured out from the very heart of God.
2) God Will Deliver You: Noah’s “BUT GOD” Moment
In Genesis 6, God grieved that He made us. Our hearts were so full of corruption and violence that God decided to play Wipe Out! So, the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind…from the face of the earth…”
BUT GOD spared Noah and his family because he walked with God. Picture books make the ark look like fun, but life on the ark wasn’t fun or easy for Noah. It required a lot of work and patience and filled his life with uncertainty. It had never rained before, and many scholars believe he was convinced that he would die on the ark.
After the rains flooded the earth and Noah and his family spent about one year on the ark, the Bible offers us another pearl:
“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.” Genesis 8:1
When it seemed that God had forgotten His promise to Noah, Scripture reminds us that God remembered. And this is the precise moment when everything changed. God sent His ruach (Spirit, wind, breath of God) to dry up the land.
God remembering doesn’t imply that God forgot Noah even for a second. He was always in God’s sight, heart, and mind, but there was a Kairos/God moment when He would deliver Noah again.
Just as God said, “Go into the ark,” he also said to Noah, “Come out of the ark…” “So, Noah came out…”
You may be in a season when you are walking with the Lord, but your life is flooded with difficulty. You may say, “I feel forgotten,” BUT GOD says, “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,” and I am on my way to deliver you at the perfect time.
You may say, “Life is hard,” BUT GOD says, “I am your Deliverer.”
3) Your Past Hurts: Joseph’s “BUT GOD” Moment
The story of Joseph begins in Genesis 37. We see this exceptional teenager sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver by his jealous brothers and left for dead. He lost his family, dignity, and home country, but he never lost his confidence that God had a destiny for him.
Trudging down through the desert toward Egypt, we can hear him saying in his heart, “It won’t end this way. God has a dream for my life. I’ve been called to more than this. God has greater plans for me.” (You’ll Get Through This, p. 16). Some of you have stopped believing this.
When his family learns 13 years later that Joseph is not only alive but that he now leads Egypt, they assume they will be put to death. However, all Joseph could do was weep. When they fall at his feet, Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, BUT GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” What a pearl!
God uses our trials and tribulations to work for us, not against us.
There was a season in my life when God began teaching me “that every experience He gives us (even the painful ones) is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see” (Life Lessons, 74).
American author Philip Yancey said, “Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” You may say, “Life doesn’t make sense,” BUT GOD says, “I will help you understand it better by and by.”
4) Your Strength: Asaph’s “BUT GOD” Moment
Asaph was a gifted musician and worship leader who nearly lost his song. He lived a pure life before God, but Scripture says that his feet almost slipped. When he compared his struggling life with the easy life of the wicked, life didn’t seem fair until he “entered the sanctuary of God” and began to look at life from the viewpoint of eternity.
He had a “BUT GOD” moment sitting in the house of the Lord and was given God’s perspective. God’s revelation knowledge helped him understand that the ungodly were coming to a hopeless end, but the godly always had an endless hope. He gives us a shiny white pearl when he says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, BUT GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
You may say, “I’m so tired and weary, I don’t know how much more I can take. I’m ready to throw in the towel,” BUT GOD says, “I am your Rock and Strength.”
5) Your Resources: Paul’s “BUT GOD” Moment
Paul knew what it was to be in need and to have plenty. Scripture says he learned to be content in his circumstances. He learned that Jesus was His strength and sufficiency and encouraged the Philippians to wear this pearl: "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
I love the title of Stan Toler’s book, “God Has Never Failed Me, But He’s Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times.”
I remember the frightful moment in seminary when I owed a $1,300 payment the next day and didn’t have it, not a cent of it. The day it was due, I received a check from my home church for $1,300 they had raised from a fish fry the Sunday before.
You may say, “I don’t have the resources,” BUT GOD says, “I own everything and promise to provide.”
6) Your Escape: Paul’s Second “BUT GOD” Moment
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man: BUT GOD is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” I Corinthians 10:12-13 (emphasis added)
He gives us the power of resistance if we trust in Him. The famous Proverb reminds us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.
You may say, “I am tempted beyond belief,” BUT GOD says, “I will make a way of escape.”
7) Your Failure: Peter’s “BUT GOD” Moment
Peter did not know the instability of his own heart when he denied Jesus three times in a row. His denial broke his heart, and Scripture says, “he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Jesus predicted this but told him, “Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat [shake your faith], BUT I [GOD] have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (commentary added). What a pearl!
Peter did fail, but in answer to Jesus’ prayer, he was restored and became a channel of strength for his fellow believers. God uses our failures to advance us. “He forever lives to intercede for us.”
Scottish minister Robert Murray M’Cheyne said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”
You may say, “I have failed,” BUT GOD says, “Your failure is not final with the Father. I am your Redeemer.”
Don’t give the devil the joy of staying discouraged by your failures. This keeps God at a distance. God doesn’t just redeem us for Himself. He redeems our stories for Himself.
Put these pearls around your neck and heart and remember: “BUT GOD!”
TL;DR
"BUT GOD" moments in the Bible are where God intervenes in dire circumstances. These moments, found throughout both Testaments, exemplify God's power to transform defeat into victory.
By examining various biblical stories, like those of Noah, Joseph, and Peter, we see God's saving grace and strength in times of trial.
The overarching message is that God's mercy and providence are continually at work, even in the most challenging situations.
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