Time is a funny thing. It flies when we are having fun. It goes by in the blink of an eye. We are strapped for it, or we have it on our hands. We race against the clock sometimes; other times we kill time.
Time continues onward with or without us. I remind my kids of this a lot when it's time to go or time for bed, and they say, "Wait! Let me just..." I tell them, time doesn't stop just because you want it to.
Since we are human beings, constrained by time within our physical world, it can be difficult to grasp the eternal nature of our God. A God who existed before time, exists outside of time, and yet, can step into time as well. A God not constrained as we are and to Whom a thousand years is like a day (2 Peter 3:8).
Perhaps it is because God exists outside of time that when He acts within our world His actions are so majestic and awesome. Reading through Scripture, we see His interjections frequently linked to these two conjunction words, "but" and "yet".
"But God" shows God making a way when there should not be a way. Consider:
1 Samuel 23:14
David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
Psalm 49:14-15
They are like sheep and are destined to die. . . . But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
"Yet" shows God's promises of what is still to come. These are promises God has made to us, that we have not seen realized yet, but which we believe in and hold onto.
These two small words change everything.
Maybe you have experienced a few "but God" moments. The words of "Amazing Grace" are coming back to me, "I was lost, but now I am found; I was blind, but now I see." I talked about anchor points before - these are our but God moments, when He has stepped into our lives and changed the story.
And "yet". Yet moves us from despair to hope. It's not over yet. There's still time for God to turn things around. As long as we have breath in our lungs, there's a possibility of prayers being answered and a better tomorrow.
How might it change our view of things if we were to add "yet" to the way we talk about our circumstances?
I don't know what to do. Yet.
I haven't heard from God. Yet.
The situation isn't resolved. Yet.
The circumstances of today won't always be the circumstances of tomorrow. We want God to work on our timeline, like a genie in a bottle.
But God (see what I did there?) is not a genie, a Santa Claus in the sky, or a cosmic vending machine. He is God, Creator of all that was and is and ever will be. He is infinitely worthy of our praise and worship for He is good and Holy.
Here's another "but God" which is also a yet promise:
Ephesians 2:1,3; 4-5
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins. . . and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...
God is doing a great work in you. We may be impatient and want it right now, but God works in His own timing. He is bringing to life that which was dead! That takes time.
As you wait for your yet, lean into the but God, remembering His goodness to you in the past. God will not fail you. He will bring His promises and plans to fruition. His Word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11). It may not be in the way we expect or anticipate, but it will be good.
For He is good.
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