“But”

July 20, 2017

“But”

A lot can be carried in that small word.  It changes the tone of an entire speech, reading, paragraph, or statement.  I find a lot of “but” clauses.  

For instance:  ”Mom, everything is great, BUT…”

“We don’t need anything from the store, BUT…”

“It was such a horrible day, BUT…”

“I will protect you and your people as I did for your father, David.  BUT…”

The last was snipped from I Kings.  Solomon has built the temple, asked for wisdom from God, honored the friends of his father, promised to serve God just like David, built a giant palace for himself (Which was not built to be greater than God’s temple; where the temple has gold, the palace has brass; where the temple has olive wood, the palace had cedar.  He gave the best to God.), and spent two chapters praising God, promising the people he would be true to God, sacrificing to God, dedicating the temple, and feasting with the people in honor of God’s mercy and provision.  God replies with (paraphrased) “Thank you for your praises and true heart, I will protect you and your people if you keep your heart toward me as your father did.” 

The very next chapter starts with “BUT…” 

Because of what is after that one word – the fact that Solomon loved women of lands God warned the Israelites not to take wives from lest they turn the peoples’ hearts from God (they worshipped idols) begins his decline from favor.  

Because Solomon allowed a negative “but” (literally about 300) into his life, he opened a door for idolatry to his people (he built temples for his wives’ idols) and ended up leading his people away from God.

That is a great lesson for all of us.  Despite all the good he did, when he allowed negative “buts” into his life, he lost what he had earned.  God didn’t instantly smite him down – I think God was waiting and hoping he would come back.  God wants all his children to love him, but He won’t make them; He wants relationships, not robots.

We need to insert positive “buts” in our lives.  

Like these:  

”This day is not going well, but I can change that!”  

”I’m really irritated at so-and-so, but I can forgive them.”  

”I’m not the person I want to be, but I can change that!”  

”I’m not really noticed here, but I can do my job well.”

Putting positive “buts” in our negative statements helps us to change our normal, hard-on-ourselves thinking and give us a tool to change our perception.  Sure, this is life and not everything is always going to go our way, but we can analyze the problem and find a way to fix it!  

Try it; the next time a negative thought starts to come in your head or across your lips, add a “but” and think of something positive that can offset or fix the negative.  

It helps!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart