Nevertheless

What is the last experience you had that looked totally hopeless? How did it turn out? Or how has it turned out…so far? For those who know Christ, nothing is beyond His ability to remedy according to His plan, His glory and our good. (See Romans 8:28-30.)

In my final week of study of Amos by Jennifer Rothschild, the word “nevertheless” stirred up my absolute love and gratefulness for the “but God” of my faith!

Jennifer had us define “nevertheless” (or what I see as “but God”). Looking it up I found it means: in spite of evidence, even so, however, but, be that as it may. This is bad news, and yet good news. In other words, no matter what it looks like, no matter how hopeless this seems, there is ALWAYS hope, and plenty of God’s grace…even if our painful experience is due to our own sinful actions.

This sent me on a biblical search of a few other times in scripture we see a “but God” occurrence. There are MANY more, just do a search on your own to find them! (The additions of bold type and (but) are my additions.)

1 In announcing judgment on sinful Israel we see a glimpse of the “remnant” who would not be destroyed so that God could fulfill all the promises He originally gave to Abraham: “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” Declares the LORD.” Amos 9:8 (NASB)

2 Joseph reassured his brothers that he forgave them in Genesis 50:20 when he said: “You planned evil against me; (but) God meant it for good to bring about the present result — the survival of many people.”

3 The Psalmist says it this way in Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.“

4 The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 as he lived out this “bad news/good news principle”: “In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more” .

5 Paul also wrote this in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29: “Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

6 Then there is simply grace, as we see in Ephesians 2:1-5: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!”

7 We also see this grace in Romans 6:3: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.“

8 In Acts 13:29-30 we see the crucifixion and resurrection bad news/good news: “When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead…”

9 Jesus Himself gave us this good news in Matthew 19:26,: “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.‘”

Every one of these passages screams that “God IS faithful.” Each one shows us what hope in dire situations looks like. Now go back and read the context of each of these passages to truly grasp the “Nevertheless/But God” principle!

Here is a great song to end this post…

Banner photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash