Whether opening a sentence, used in a narrative, or interrupting thoughts, these six little letters – b u t G o d - signify a big change (or amazing turn around) has been or is being activated by The Lord.
Here are some Biblical examples in sequence:
GENESIS 20 2 ...Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
31 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah..., 5 and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me....
7 Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.,,,
24 But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said..., “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”....
29 It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night,....’
45 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler...
48 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”
50 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid;....
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
DEUTERONOMY 23 5 Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.
1 SAMUEL 23 14 .....Saul sought him (David) every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
2 CHRONICLES 11 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord,...
PSALM 49 3 This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah.....
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Selah
64 6 They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep. 7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly they will be wounded.
66 8 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
73 26 My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
86 14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
and a mob of violent men have sought my life,
and have not set You before them.
15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and
gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
94 21 They gather together against the life
of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has been my defense,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
115 2 Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?”
3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
ISAIAH 5 15 People shall be brought down, each man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 3 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
but God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and
be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
40 8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
51 14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail. 15 But I am the Lord your God, Who divided the sea ‘
whose waves roared — The Lord of hosts is His name.
JEREMIAH 10 9 Silver is beaten into plates; it is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman
and of the hands of the metalsmith;....
10 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God...
DANIEL 2 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king,... “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be....
MATTHEW 19 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
ACTS 7 9 “And the patriarchs,... sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.‘’
10 28 ..., “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
12 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
13 29 ...when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead.
ROMANS 5 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
6 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 CORINTHIANS 1 26 ...not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,...
2 9 ...“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit....
3 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
10 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
EPHESIANS 2 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
JAMES 4 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
