But God...

The hope to come.

"BUT" - A small word full of big influence, great power and transformational potential.

"BUT" - used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned.

This past year we have watched the world crumble. We've slowly watched things dissipate; seemingly helpless to our own fate. We've witnessed may tears, many hardships, and sadly, many deaths. We've pressed pause on family, on friends, on progression; all while managing the other stresses of life that are unrelated to the Coronavirus. We've sweated, we've panicked, we've feared all to come. We've struggled to understand the threat; our leaders; our future. At some point in the past year, I am sure we've all questioned everything. What is this? Why is it happening? Why now? Where is God? Where is the end? Is there an end? Is this the end?

It's a year to the very day I first had to isolate because of Coronavirus. I was petrified. I cried my eyes out. I was so afraid of what was happening, of potentially having Covid (I didn't, praise Jesus), of being in such a situation without my family (still in LPL at this point). I'd forgotten one of the fundamental teachings the bible has to offer.

"Fear not" - Isaiah 41:10

"Let not your heart be troubled" - John 14:27

"Do not be anxious about anything" - Philippians 4:6

"The Lord is on my side, I will not fear" - Psalm 118: 6

There is extensions to each of those verses and I'd encourage you to go and read them for yourselves, but the point I am trying to make is that we are told over and over again not to fear. To trust that God is on our side, to believe He has a plan, to cast everything at the feet of Jesus and to consider it dealt with.

"Fear not" or something similar is mentioned in the bible a total of 365 times. I'm sure you've heard this before, but that's one for each day of the year. So each morning, you can rise and declare "Fear not" over yourself because it is written so frequently and intently. We do not have to carry the fear, anxiety, the dread. We have a gracious God who gives us a "get out of anxiety-jail free card" and takes the burden from our shoulders. And once I finally did this, the game changed. So my first thing today is this; if you know Jesus as your saviour and are still operating from a place of fear, you can give it up. God invites it, he wants to take it from you, give it to him today knowing that he will carry it better than we ever could.

While the fear of the current pandemic no longer holds me so tightly anymore, I still have my little moments. Little "wobbles" where it feels a bit like the carpet has been pulled from under my feet. When things feel "normal" for approximately 3 seconds, followed by the sudden realisation that the world couldn't be further from "normal" right now. When I just have a real craving to able to walk into my best friends house, sit down with a cup of tea and chat to her parents (is that too much to ask?). It's frustrating, confusing and sometimes really tricky to see the purpose in all of this. But again, that's me in my humanness when Proverbs 19:21 clearly states, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." If my plans were to prevail, I'd currently be in Liverpool, teaching properly, living with my bestie and travelling as much as possible. But that clearly isn't the plans of the Lord.

As tough as it is, where we find ourselves now is within God's purpose. And this is where I'm coming onto my main point of this blog post. Many times in the bible, there is the threat of death, destruction and devastation. Many times in the bible, God's people are thrown into the unknown. They feel as though they are wandering in the darkness, as if the worst has happened, as if they are drowning without a way out. Sounds familiar, right? But here's the thing, two words...But God....every time. As defined at the beginning, "but" has the ability to turn any situation on it's head and with God as the conductor, the impact of these words together is immensely powerful.

Genesis 8:1

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

Genesis 50:20

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

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Jonah 2:6

To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit.

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Acts 7:9

And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 13:29-30

When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead...

I really could go on, but these are just 8 examples of different times in the bible something horrendous has been contrasted with a simple "but God..." But God intended it for good; but God is the strength of my heart; but God brought my life up from the pit; but with God all things are possible; but God was with him; but God raised him from the dead. Just when all hope is lost, God steps in.

I've experienced this in the past. I've hit rock bottom, looked all around for a way out of the pit and grown weary from trying to find a solution and then God stepped in; reminded me of His purposes, His plans and His power. And it is a gracious blessing to be able to look back and in telling my story, include the two small words that mean the most, "but God...".

We are like each of the instances above. We are in the storm; we are facing harm; our flesh and hearts are failing us as we grow weary in the situation; we feel as though we are at the root of the mountain; we feel the task is impossible; we feel alone; we feel sentenced to life the way we are currently living it. BUT GOD. We WILL see a day where we can say our own sentence including those two transformational words in relation to this present situation. Or perhaps you can already add an end to it.

"We had suffered so much as a society, BUT GOD...."

"We lost so much, BUT GOD..."

"We missed so much family time, BUT GOD..."

"I lost my business, BUT GOD..."

"I was struggling mentally, BUT GOD..."

Wherever you find yourself, as a believer in Jesus Christ, the day is coming, if it hasn't happened already, when you can declare with relief and thankfulness; "BUT GOD..." and it will be beautiful. The end will come because nothing can last forever. But we have the hope of a loving Father who goes before us in all things, preparing the way for us, fulfilling His plans and purposes and turning all things for His good. And that applies to all things; Covid related or not.

To be sanctified to be like Jesus is to know darkness and suffering as well as the joy life has to offer. And be assured that your present suffering is for your long-term benefit and the ultimate Glory of God. 1 Peter tells us that trials come to prove the genuineness of our faith and it would be my prayer that at the end of this trial your faith is enhanced, strengthened and refuelled as you are able to utilise the phrase, "but God...". We are a chosen people, with angels dedicated to each one of us. Luke 4:10 - "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." As believers, we are promised protection, we are promised deliverance, we are promised companionship in our trials and to this extent, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 24-25) so we can trust that God's promises will always be upheld simply because they are written in His word.

Perhaps you're reading this and you don't know Jesus so you don't have the hope I'm talking about here. If that's you, then I'm so glad you're here and I want you to know that it is by no accident. To go back to Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death". Unfortunately we all are born in sin, which leads us to an eternity in hell if we remain in our sin. Sin first entered the world through the mistakes of man and from the temptation of the devil. You can read about this in Genesis if you'd like to or we can chat more independently from the blog (message me on instagram @_lifeunfiltered__). But this is the important part; we are born in sin and live in sin until such a time that we encounter the living Christ. Sin fell upon the world through the actions of man, but because God (there's that but God!) is gracious, loving and desiring of a personal relationship with each one of us, he sent his only son to die on a cross for you and for me. Before either of us were conceived, we were thought of in the mind of God. We are a chosen people, here to do the works God has set out for us. But the thing is, we have to chose him too. Thankfully, Romans 6:23 doesn't finish there and instead goes on to say; "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Things were meek, toxic and poisonous to our future; we were sentenced to death through eternity in hell, BUT GOD stepped in! Today you are offered the free gift of salvation. You can come to know Jesus today by acknowledging your sin, repenting from your sin, and asking Jesus to come into your life to walk with you and to guide you. You will rid yourself of an eternity in hell and can celebrate in the knowledge that by grace you have been saved and guaranteed a place in heaven for all eternity. You don't have to be perfect (no human is!), you just need to come as you are. I'd ask you to try praying. Just open yourself up to allowing God to speak to you and see what happens. He's waiting to speak to you now and this could potentially be your, "But God..." moment.

The extent to which God inspired the words "but God..." in the bible is guidance for us and both an anchor and flame for the hope we have. We can anchor ourselves in any situation to the simple truth that God will show up and we can use this phrase as our motivation and confidence for the future.

So today I hope this encourages you; that you perhaps go and read into the scripture I've mentioned here or perhaps simply breathe a little deeper knowing that you do not have to carry fear. God has already prepared the way for us, through Covid and whatever comes next. We may be down, but we are most definitely not out.

Struggling, stressed, subdued...but God...

I'll come back and finish that sentence myself when I have been able to witness the movement of God as He delivers us out of this season. Praying for you.

All my love,

Charis x