(Opening Big But video, Worship House Media)
I have a really big but, it’s huge if I have to be honest about it. And you know what the funny thing is about it, I have several big buts and before you discard me because of the disgusting thought of it, I am going to go out on a limb a say that possibly you have one big but as well. That hurts a little doesn’t it? To hear someone tell you that you have a big but doesn’t feel good to hear. But it’s true!
Let me share something with you, everybody we know has a big but. And more often than not, it’s that one thing that keeps us from living a consistent life for Jesus. Let me expound a little bit. See if you can recognize any of these buts:
-BUT I have to work more, BUT my kids have practice, BUT it’s such a beautiful day, But I’m just not in the mood, BUT I deserve a break today.
You see everything kind of BUT interferes with my life of just living an authentic life for God. And more often than not it always has something to do with some sort of BUT. The truth is even the smallest Buts can interfere with our relationship with God. It really can, the littlest BUT can even distract me and get me to think I am not going to pray today, I’m not going to think about it today, I’m not going to deny myself , I’m not going to read the Bible. Blah, Blah , Blah. Whatever it is God asks me to do; I seem to have a BUT for it. And the biggest BUT of all time is the BUT that gets in the way of me just hanging out with God and reading His Word. It’s true, think about it. All the times you’re about to open the Bible and all of a sudden a big giant BUT gets in the way.
-BUT I’m tired, BUT I have to get on Facebook, BUT I read last night, BUT the game is on, BUT I don’t like Leviticus, BUT I don’t like to read, BUT it’s too hot in here, BUT I don’t understand it, BUT it’s boring, BUT what does it have to do with me in the 21st century?
Those are really some ugly BUTS aren’t they. Let’s just tell it how it is, they are ugly BUTS!! And the sad truth is this isn’t all of them. There are more Ugly buts out there. Here is a list of some of man’s most popular BUTS of all time:
-BUT I don’t have enough money yet, BUT others will think I’m a nerd if I carry the Bible, BUT they won’t like me if I talk about Jesus, BUT I don’t know if God will do what I ask, BUT I just can’t get motivated, BUT I’m afraid, BUT can’t I just let my life speak for itself?, BUT doesn’t care if I go to church or not, BUT I can’t sing, BUT isn’t that the pastor’s job, BUT I’m not gifted in that, BUT I don’t know how to pray, BUT I don’t know where to start. And the most over used BUT of all time is: BUT I JUST DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME!
Buts are really all around us aren’t they? We all have them and they are all tremendous ugly buts. “Here a BUT there a BUT everywhere a BUT BUT”.
If I did a message on all of them we would simply be here all day. So, for the sake of time, let’s pick out a few buts to discuss. Let’s look at the original but, that’s right Adam. He was not only the first man but he was also the first one to use a but, excuse to God. This is what I want to call
I.THE BIG BUT OF OTHER PEOPLE.
A.Gen. 3:9-12 the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
1.“But it is Eve’s fault, she is the reason why”. The ol’ blame game, it is the oldest game and has been around since the beginning.
2.Not much has really changed for us throughout the years has it? We still want to blame others for our mistakes, short comings, for our sin.
3.We all have excuses as to why we didn’t do this or that. We all have excuses for not doing this or that. And the really funny thing about it is that even though we have a lot of buts and we blame a lot of people for it, God knows the truth.
4.Adam tried to pull the wool over God’s eyes didn’t he? He wanted to place all the blame on Eve for why he was dis-obedient to God. It wasn’t Adam’s fault for him doing something against God, it was Eve’s.
5.And Eve didn’t take the blame did she? She said “oh no, it was the serpent’s fault. He tempted me to do it”.
6.“The devil made me do it” has been a really ugly but that many of us use today. Whenever we do something out of character and don’t want to take the blame ourselves, “The Devil made me do it.” This is the motto of many good Christians that simply do not want to fess up to their own faults.
7.It seems whenever we fall short of living the life that God desires of us we have a but as to why we’re not. And placing the but on other people and or Satan is simply wrong.
8.Now, I’m not standing up for Satan but I am standing on the word of God on this and taking any power away from Satan that we may be placing on him by saying he is the reason, he is in control.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
9.It’s true Satan cannot stand us, He sees us as big pink targets and he wants nothing more than to get us into is hold and take us from God. But he has no power to do so. God’s Word tells us that He will provide a way for us to stand up under it. If we are tempted to do wrong and act on it, it is not the devil who made us do it, it is us.
James 1:14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
-It is because of us and no one else that we give in. It is because of us that we skip church, stop praying, no longer read His Word. It is because of us that we don’t serve, don’t get involved, and never commit to the church.
And this is the most dangerous but of all.
II.THE BIG BUT, I’M TOO WEAK!
A.We make those excuses and we accept the lie that we are too weak, “We are only human.” What does that mean anyway? “We are only human.”
1.We use this as our trump card, our catch all. We believe that since we are fleshly creatures that we are accepted to fail, that it is okay for us to be less than we should be. We believe that it’s okay when we fail God because he understands that we’re only human.
2. believe we use this excuse most. We set ourselves up to fail before we even try.
Illustration: Early in my walk with Jesus I felt God’s call into the ministry. I knew that He wanted me to preach but I fought it very hard. I told myself that I could never do that. I told myself that I wasn’t smart enough, good enough and that I would only fail as a preacher. I grew up going to speech classes because I had a horrible problem with stuttering and a really bad lisp. I told God no for a long, long time because my belief was in the wrong place. It was in me and not in Him and I didn’t want to be a preacher. I didn’t really want to be challenged, I wanted to do something easy, something that didn’t take much effort.
3.Moses did this when God spoke to him from the Burning Bush didn’t he? God told Moses in Exodus 3:10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
4. If you remember how the story goes. Moses used a lot of buts. BUT who am I that I should go? BUT what if they don’t believe me? BUT what if they don’t listen to me?
5.Moses didn’t want to leave his comfort zone. He was content where he was at and wasn’t out looking for a challenge. Moses, like many of us, like to have things the way we want them. No change, no stress, no effort. People in general enjoy comfortibility.
VIDEO: “Comfortable” (Onetimeblind.com)
6.God calls us to be people of action. Our mouths might agree, but we quickly get cozy in our comfort zones, too afraid to reach outside and do something that might be a little uncomfortable or out of the norm.
7. God wants us to serve alongside Him. He doesn’t want our excuses; He wants our hearts! I am sure He gets frustrated with us at times
8.We read where God begins to get angry with Moses because of all the buts. He finally tells him in Exodus 4:10
Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
9.Can you imagine how things would have turned out if Moses would have ignored God’s call and never went to Pharaoh because he had some buts?
10.Many of us ignore God as well and we tell Him that we are not good enough, we’re not smart enough, we could never and we just can’t.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
11.Can Christians really "do all things"? They can when they realize that our strengths and abilities are rooted not in ourselves, but in God. When we say we can do all things, we’re really saying that there is absolutely no limit to what God can accomplish through us when we trust in His power and grace.
Conclusion:
When we use buts, we are telling God a few things. We’re telling him that He is wrong and we’re telling Him no. We are telling Him that we do not have faith in Him. We’re telling Him that we do not believe. We’re telling Him that we are too weak and just not that strong.
God never calls us to do something that we can’t. He expects us to be obedient to Him and not have any buts about it.
God gets glorified, people benefit and we get blessed when we don’t use buts against God. That’s why we do what we do. That’s the why behind the BUT. And ultimately that’s the whole point I’m trying to make here.
If your BUT is bigger than your why, then your BUT is too big. We need to shape up spiritually and get our BUTS into shape. We need to shrink our BUTS down a little bit and manage our excuses. We can start today. Let’s not wait any longer to get in shape. Let’s begin a healthier and relationship with God this morning and minimize our BUTS.
