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but God...

"But Mom..."

How many time have you either said or heard those words? They're usually only partially decipherable, stretched out and masked with a whine. Typically, they come about because the Mom in question didn't give the speaker what he or she wanted, holding her ground about something. If we're honest, it's usually something Mom's right about--though when you're the one asking, that's hard to see and admit.

How often do our prayers sound like that? How often do we plead with God to just do what we want Him to do? We may not use the words, but I wonder if God hears our prayers sometimes start off with "But God..." poured out in a whine?

Of course, the words probably sound different. We tend to fill our prayers with pretty words, as if our choice of words will be the deciding factor in whether or not we talk God into answering our prayers the way we want Him to.

Do you think that sometimes we just sound like little kids trying to use big words?

What if we changed our "But God..." statements?

What if, instead of thinking that God should be doing what we want Him to do, we remember where we would be... but God.

We were lost, buried in our sins.
We were worthless, incapable of being good enough on our own.
We were sinners, every one of us.

"But God, with the unfathomable richness of His love and mercy focused on us,
united us with the Anointed One and infused our lifeless souls with life--
even though we were buried under mountains of sin--
and saved us by His grace."
~Ephesians 2:4&5

We were lifeless...but God.
We were buried...but God.
We were worthless...but God.
 

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