FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
Undefeated… Until It Wasn’t
Do you have a favorite word?
I do. It’s a small one — but.
I know, it’s not exactly an exciting word. It’s a conjunction, sometimes an adverb, even a noun (I had to look that up). I’m no English expert, but I love the conjunction “but” — the one that connects two ideas, often opposite in meaning, and gives them new life when joined together.
There’s an incredible example in Ephesians 2:4.
Paul begins the chapter by painting a bleak picture:
we were dead in our trespasses and sins — children of wrath, hopeless and spiritually lifeless.
Then comes the shift that changes everything:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”
That little word but carries the full weight of grace.
It’s the hinge between despair and deliverance, death and life.
The Greatest “But” in History
Still, I think there’s an even greater one in Luke 24.
After the silence of Saturday — that heavy day after the crucifixion — Luke writes:
“But on the first day of the week…”
The women went to the tomb early that morning, hearts broken and hands full of burial spices.
Then verse 3 says:
“But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”
Why? Verse 6 gives us the reason:
“He is not here, but has risen!”
It’s just a conjunction — but the truth it joins changed the universe.
When death thought it had won, when the grave believed it was victorious…
But God!
Death was undefeated… until it wasn’t.
Because He has risen.
A Closing Prayer
Lord, thank You for being the God of the turnaround — the God who steps into the middle of our mess and writes “But God” across our stories. Thank You that death, sin, and shame no longer have the final word. Remind us today that because You have risen, hope always remains. Amen.
Written by Todd Harris, Director of Men’s & Marriage Ministry at CrossLife Church
