First posted on 14th January 2013.
You may have heard people talk about the “big but’s” of the Bible; for example: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. BUT now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” Colossians 1 v 21-22. But I’ve been thinking about the “yet’s” of the Bible.
I know many people who have had a hard time during the autumn, including illness, bereavement, church issues… Others are facing a difficult start to 2013. And some of us are experiencing both. Which is what got me thinking about biblical “yet’s”. Here are a couple to mull over:
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will YET praise him,
my Saviour and my God.
Psalm 42 v 5
Though the fig-tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the sheepfold
and no cattle in the stalls,
YET I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
Habakkuk 3 v 17-18
Two things struck me as I was pondering these verses. First, that praising God isn’t dependent on emotions. Some of us know what it’s like to be downcast or disturbed. I know that some of you, like me, battle the blackness of depression. Maybe you’re feeling downcast right now. I take encouragement from this psalm that God knows exactly how we are feeling; that we can be honest with Him about it; and YET it needn’t stop us praising Him. Maybe only in a limited way now – a decision that we will praise and thank God even if all we can manage right at this moment is: “Lord, I know you are worthy of praise. Thank you.” And we know that one day, in the new creation, our souls will be lifted up and we will praise Him fully.
Second, that rejoicing God isn’t dependent on circumstances. In 3 v 17 Habakkuk gives a list of calamities, and there are plenty more earlier in the book, but he doesn’t end there. Even though all these things happen, YET he will rejoice in God. Why? Because God is his Saviour (v18). Which of course brings us back to that big “but” at the beginning of this blog. Yes, life may have been terribly hard. Yes, we may face huge difficulties. And I don’t want to belittle those (and more importantly, the Bible doesn’t either). But for those of us who are in Christ, our alienation from God has been replaced by reconciliation. Definitely something to rejoice in.
When life is tough, I’m going to try and remind myself to remember those “yet’s” – to be a Yeti! I hope that may be helpful to some of you as well.
Alison Mitchell is a Senior Editor at The Good Book Company, where she has worked on a range of products including Bible-reading notes for children and families, and the Christianity Explored range of resources. She is the bestselling author of The Christmas Promise and the award-winning Jesus and the Lions' Den.
