Big Buts of the Bible

Students!

Today’s lesson takes us out of grammar books and into the poetry section.

Your old professor enjoys a well-crafted poem, particularly when the poet knows how to employ our favorite little conjunction.

Today’s exhibit comes from Annie Johnson Flint (1866–1932), a prolific Christian poet and hymn writer. If you’ve never heard of her, you’re in for a treat.

But before we admire her poetry, a word about the poet.

Annie knew suffering.

She lost both of her parents as a young child. Later, while teaching school, she developed a severe form of arthritis that eventually left her disabled and in constant pain. Yet out of that life of hardship flowed poems that have encouraged generations of weary hearts.

One of my favorites is built around a phrase every student of Big Buts should immediately recognize.

But God.

I know not, but God knows;
Oh, blessed rest from fear!
All my unfolding days
To Him are plain and clear.

Later she writes…

I cannot, but God can;
Oh, balm for all my care!

And then…

I see not, but God sees;
Oh, all-sufficient light!

Did you notice what happened?

Our little conjunction but quietly shifts the reader’s attention away from human limitation and toward God’s sufficiency.

I know not… but God knows.

I cannot… but God can.

I see not… but God sees.

Marvelous conjunction work.

That’s precisely what a good but often does. It doesn’t erase the first statement. Annie never pretends she understands everything, can do everything, or sees everything.

She simply introduces Someone who can.

No wonder this little phrase appears throughout Scripture.

Joseph told his brothers,

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”

Paul wrote,

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Peter proclaimed,

“But God raised Him from the dead…”

One little conjunction.

One immeasurably great God.

Professor’s Assignment

This week, listen for a beautiful but.

It may appear in a poem.

It may appear in a hymn.

It may appear in a conversation.

And perhaps, if you’re walking through a difficult season, it may quietly become your own prayer:

I know not…

…but God knows.