Many Years ago two preachers were sharing some meetings, and one of the preachers wife, was in another place and was sick. The other man was speaking on “the Lord is my Shepherd.” He made the comparison between the different nature of goats and sheep. Goats at times are aggressive and “butting” into one another and they bang and they butt each other. He was saying sometimes we’re like that. We say “the Lord is my Shepherd, BUT…” So, perhaps this morning you’re part of the famous “but brigade.” You say what is that? You make the profession,” The Lord is my Shepherd, BUT…” and finish focusing on your problem…. or say “The LORD is my Shepherd, BUT… here is my circumstance…or “BUT….you don’t understand… or BUT if only it was different… His point was we always end with the circumstance, problem as foremost in our thinking and preoccupied with the problem and not the LORD. At the end of the week the other speaker whose wife had been in hospital and who had been listening to these messages on “the Lord is my Shepherd, “BUT…” realized he was like one of those goats, he said, you know what? I’m like one of those goats, I’m “butting” all over the place. I’m saying the Lord is my Shepherd, but….my wife is sick in another state. He realized he had the “but” in the wrong place. “My wife is sick in the hospital, BUT the Lord is my Shepherd.” You see, you have to always end with the Lord of your circumstances. What’s the difference between worry and concern? Worry is perverted faith. It is preoccupied with the problem. “Concern,” is occupied with the Problem Solver! Thr difference is where you place the “But!” Do you say “the Lord is my shepherd, BUT…” or do you say “Here is my problem, “BUT,”… The LORD is My Shepherd!” Do you have the “but,” in the wrong place? Are you part of the “but brigade” today? Begin afresh, end with Him. We all have problems, tests, trials of various sizes and intensities, “BUT… The LORD is my Shepherd I shall not lack,” anything I need to trust Him, honor Him. I have promises from Him to appropriate that I might honor Him in the circumstances and perplexites I find myself in, because “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT LACK!”
Maybe it’s time to move the “But! Always end any situation with,”But God…”