GraceCreates

by Jon Walker

So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8 (NIV)

— — —

Today, in the story of your life, you’re in the middle of a sentence, and you may find yourself paused in a painful place.

But today is not the end of your story. You’re paused on what my Jesus-mentor Steve Pettit calls the holy “but God” of a sentence. For example, you’re hanging by the end of your rope, but God extends his hand at precisely the right moment to pull you from peril.

You find this divine “but God” sentence structure throughout the Bible:

•    Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, but God used it to preserve the Jewish race.
•    The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, but God sent Moses to lead them to the Promised Land.
•    Jesus dies on a cross, but God used that very moment to deliver us all from evil.

Every one of us reaches a point in our lives where we wonder what God is doing, but God then does something unexpected and marvelous. You don’t know what’s behind the “but God.” You can only, in faith, believe it is exactly the best thing God could give to you.

Count the “but God” moments in your life where he provided for you or delivered you from a difficult situation. The apostle Peter tells us to keep telling our God-stories over and over again, to encourage each other.

There’s an old gospel song that says, “I just took a look at the back of the book.” You may not be able to see to the end of the sentence, let alone the end of your life story, but you do know how the story ends: God wins, the demons die, and we spend eternity with our heavenly Father.

There’s no but about that!

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.