Three Words That Change Everything

An email arrived in my inbox yesterday, written by a woman whose husband died recently. She described her concerns for her young adult children and her frustration over lacking a sense of purpose since becoming a widow.

My heart hurt for her. That pain added to the hurt I’ve felt for others who have messaged me in the past week—women from India who lost their homes and livelihood in recent floods. Women fighting to keep their marriages from becoming a statistic. Women desperate for their adult kids to find freedom from addictions, and women whose husbands’ ailing health has led them to a rocky present and uncertain future.

In a perfect world, we’d never face problems that threaten to undo us. The good news is—that perfect world is coming. Struggles of the soul will be a thing of the past. Sorrows and tears will be forever wiped away. But for now…for the broken world in which we live and move, we need hope.

Psalm 54:4 offers a simple but profound truth packed with hope for whatever pain or uncertainty we face today.

It says,

“But God is my helper.”

I read those words this morning, and I put the focus on the first three—“But God is.”

When God is in the picture

Then I thought about the challenges faced by men and women around the world today. About the reality of bad things happening. About the difference made when we bring God into the picture.

Here’s what I wrote in my journal: “No matter what happens in my life, I will hold onto ‘But God is _________.” Then I wrote a list to fill in the blank.

I ended the list with, “I may face difficulties, but God is bigger.”

“But God is” – three little words that change everything when we focus on them rather than on the problem at hand.