Book Synopsis
The phrase “But God” is one of Scripture’s most hope‑saturated pivots. It signals a divine interruption — a moment when God enters a human story that is heading in one direction and redirects it toward a completely different outcome.
“But” is a small word, but it is very powerful. What does the word but mean? It means forget what was said or happened before. It is a word of transition.
The phrase, “But God,” may be the most powerful phrase in the Bible. These phrases describe God and his nature. Francis Chan is quoted to have stated, “Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory he deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words cannot contain him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” These “but God” phrases may describe God best of all!
But God indicates a reversal of human hopelessness. In this study, the text often describes:
• sin
• danger
• despair
• human limitations
• impossible odds
Then comes the pivot: “But God…” meaning God intervened in a way humans never could.