Have you ever faced a bleak situation?
Sometimes it’s something minor, like getting a flat tire on the way to church. Other times it’s something far more serious: the loss of a loved one, a broken relationship, a personal crisis, or a circumstance that leaves you wondering if things will ever be the same again.
We all face moments that seem like endings. Moments that feel like the end of your world.
I have good news for you: God can take what seems like an ending and turn it into a new beginning, because God will always have the last word.
When Hope Seems Lost
The disciples knew what it was like to face what appeared to be a hopeless situation. What could be more bleak and hopeless than the murder of Jesus Christ in the eyes of his first-century followers?
For years they had followed Jesus. They spent every day with Him. They listened to His teaching, watched His miracles, and believed He would be a conquering political and military king.
Then everything changed. Jesus went “off script.” He was betrayed by one of His own followers, beaten, crucified, and killed. It didn’t make sense. The disciples on the road to Emmaus put this clearly when they said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel…” (Luke 24:21).
Notice the words “we had hoped.” Their hope was shattered.
But then came Sunday. Luke 24:1: “But very early on Sunday morning…”
“But God”: Those are two words for you to keep in mind throughout your life. God will always have the last word.
Even though the disciples were thrown off, God wasn’t. It was all part of His plan.
The Power of “But God”
All over Scripture we find situations that seem impossible until God steps in.
Joseph’s life is a perfect example.
He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and thrown into prison. His life appeared to be one setback after another. Yet God was working behind the scenes.
Years later, Joseph said to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good” (Genesis 50:20). There are those words: but God.
The Apostle Paul uses the same phrase when describing our spiritual condition. We were dead in sin and separated from God—“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
And then there’s the story of Peter being thrown in prison for preaching the gospel. James, one of the apostles, had already been put to death. It looked like the end—”But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him” (Acts 12:5) and Peter was sprung from the prison cell.
If God could turn Joseph’s setback into a setup and Peter’s prison into a platform, He can work in your situation too.
One Final “But God”
I have one final “but God” passage for you. It is found in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We’re all separated from God by our sin. But God has intervened!
And now you have to respond to that intervention. If you don’t have a relationship with the Lord, you don’t need to spend another day like that. You can begin today.
