08112022 But

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our Anchor. Even if everything else falls apart, God is constant. God is faithful. God is always there and always the same.

Life can be (and often is) hard. There’s “normal” hard, and sometimes there’s “harder-than-I-ever-imagined” hard. Most Christians would acknowledge, in theory, that some trials can be incredibly difficult and also that sometimes they last for an incredibly long time. Of course, no one ever wants to be the one caught in the incredibly difficult or the incredibly long. We would rather think that we can pray and that God will immediately (or at least soon) deliver us.

Have you ever noticed people’s responses to Christians in those types of trials? Many responses would make it seem like no one should ever admit that a trial is incredibly difficult. (“Don’t struggle. Trust God.”) And no one should continue mentioning that they are still struggling. (“Rejoice. Stop being negative.”)

Do you understand what I am saying? I’m not minimizing proper encouragement, but noticing that sometimes people fail to give compassionate and beneficial acknowledgement of reality. When it comes down to personal experience or people we interact with, it’s almost like there is a mental denial of the possibility of incredibly hard or incredibly long. We are so accustomed to think of divine deliverance and spiritual growth that we always want to apply the victorious filter. If someone’s situation doesn’t fit that filter, we don’t know what to do with it. Something must be wrong with them and with the way they are handling things.

The truth is, however, that sometimes God does ordain, allow, and/or use the really hard and the really long. Those descriptions can be realistic, accurate, and legitimate. So, what do we do if we find ourselves in that reality? Lately I have been thinking a lot about one important word: “But.”

It’s not wrong to be honest about a trial or about our struggle within a trial. Imagine how fake and damaging our Christianity would be if no one ever acknowledged such (very real) struggles. There is another side of the coin, however. There is an important anchor when life is extra difficult. It begins with the word “but.” We must learn to accompany our brutal honesty with “but” followed by truth about God, because if all we ever have is ugly and heavy honesty, we will lose hope.

For example – we might say, “This is the hardest trial I have ever faced, BUT God has shown me His love.” Or, “I feel like I’m drowning every day, BUT the Bible keeps giving me truth to cling to.” Or, “Sometimes I don’t think I can keep going, BUT God has been so faithful and compassionate.” If we can’t come up with that kind of hopeful truth in our experience, we must at least find it in our faith. “This is more than I can bear, BUT I know God has a good plan.” “I know He loves me.” “I know He will give me grace.”

When I started thinking about this concept, I was amazed how many Bible verses fit this pattern. “My faith is being tried by fire, BUT in the end it will glorify God” (I Peter 1:7). “I am in great heaviness, BUT I can rejoice in God’s power to keep me” (I Peter 1:6). “I’m suffering for a while, BUT God will complete His work in me” (I Peter 5:10). “This training time is grievous, BUT God will produce the fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). “My physical body is falling apart, BUT God is strengthening my inner man” (II Corinthians 4:16).

It's not always “but.” Sometimes it’s “yet,” “although,” “nevertheless,” or similar words. The psalmists and other biblical authors were great at this. They would be honest about the struggle, but they would turn to and cling to truth. (Psalm 42-43, Psalm 57, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 74, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Job 23:8-10). These are just a few examples of many.

I have also been struck by one character that failed to find the “but.” Read Ruth 1 and look for every time Naomi mentions God. She does talk about God, and she desires God’s blessings for others, but when it comes to herself, she has only the heavy and ugly truth of her very real and very difficult situation. I especially noted verse 21: “I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty.” Does that remind you of anyone else in the Bible? I thought of Job, who said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away” (Job 1:21). What’s the difference between Naomi and Job? Job found the “but” – implied. “[But] blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job struggled – a lot. But he kept bringing himself back to these wonderful truths, at least from time to time. Without recalling such truths, it’s no wonder that Naomi was bitter and without hope.

Focusing on the truth after the “but” allows for another “but.” “We are troubled on every side, YET not distressed; we are perplexed, BUT not in despair; persecuted, BUT not forsaken; cast down, BUT not destroyed” (II Corinthians 4:7-8). When we have truth to follow the “but,” we have hope. We have an anchor. We have something real to hold on to. If striving to include truth can uphold us in the really difficult and really long, surely the same practice will also uphold us in the “normal” hardships of life.

In whatever level of hardship you face this week, may you be often reminded of “but” and then truth about our great God and His care for us.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA