Don't judge me. I like it. I don't know how or when it started, but it did. I like grammar.
Diagramming sentences is a fun adventure in my world. When I learn new languages, I learn best in the structure of grammar. Maybe that's it. Maybe I like grammar because I greatly value structure. Sentences have structure. Each word has a significant purpose. Each word has its own place. It's a beautiful, little miracle when you stop to think about it. Grammar is beautiful.
I don't have a favorite part of speech though. I value nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, interjections, prepositions, and conjunctions. They all serve a significant purpose.
However, I am realizing that there is power behind conjunctions. That realization may be changing my life.
You may be wondering, what exactly is a conjunction? That's okay; it's a good question. A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Conjunctions include and, but, yet, even though, or, nor, so, although, while, because, since, so that, if, even if, however, than, and more words.
They're little words. Sentences could be made without them. The sentences would be shorter, but they would survive. Points would still be made well. Life would go on.
Yet those little words reveal that there's more to the story. Things don't end with that first thought. They continue. More needs to be told.
There are many conjunctions in the Bible, and there is power behind each one.
It's easy to get caught up in the hard facts. Life is challenging. Suffering is everywhere. Children become orphans. Widows are taken advantage of or ignored. People go hungry. The innocent are condemned. The guilty go free. There are so many things that are simply wrong in the world.
But... Yet...
There is hope.
Each but and every yet is a reminder of hope in those challenging circumstances. I cling to those conjunctions. They remind me of my hope and the truth.
They also give me the space to be honest. I can say that life is challenging. I can admit that suffering is everywhere. I can say those things without becoming lost in despair because there is more.
I love that people in the Bible do the same thing.
In Psalm 22, King David says,
King David is honest. He doesn't hide his pain from God. Yet he knows who his God is. There is power and truth in those yet phrases.1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
5 They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.6 But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born. [emphasis added]
And in Isaiah 8:20-9:1, Isaiah says,
20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21 They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22 and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
9:1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. [emphasis added]Finding these hopeful conjunctions in Scripture is reminding me that they aren't finished yet. There is still hope. Even in the midst of all of the pain, brokenness, and junk, there is a promise of things yet to come. There is more. There is a hope. There is a future redemption which far surpasses the redemption we have already seen.
The passage that spurred me onto this journey and initiated my newfound love for conjunctions is Lamentations 3. It says,
That is one powerful lament. It continues. There's more. And it's in the Bible. God is near to this person in his mourning. God is near in his pain. God reminds him of his hope. Each but, for, yet, though, and because has deep meaning. Each is followed by beautiful truth.I am the one who has seen the afflictions
that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.
2 He has led me into darkness,
shutting out all light.
3 He has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged and surrounded me
with anguish and distress.
6 He has buried me in a dark place,
like those long dead.7 He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
He has bound me in heavy chains.
8 And though I cry and shout,
he has shut out my prayers.
9 He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;
he has made my road crooked.10 He has hidden like a bear or a lion,
waiting to attack me.
11 He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,
leaving me helpless and devastated.
12 He has drawn his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.13 He shot his arrows
deep into my heart.
14 My own people laugh at me.
All day long they sing their mocking songs.
15 He has filled me with bitterness
and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.16 He has made me chew on gravel.
He has rolled me in the dust.
17 Peace has been stripped away,
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:28 Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the Lord’s demands.
29 Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.
30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.31 For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
33 For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.34 If people crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,
35 if they deprive others of their rights
in defiance of the Most High,
36 if they twist justice in the courts—
doesn’t the Lord see all these things?...49
My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 My heart is breaking
over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
hunted me down like a bird.
53 They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”55 But I called on your name, Lord,
from deep within the pit.
56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”58 Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!
For you have redeemed my life. [emphasis added]
Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed with all of those hard things. Injustice is everywhere. Pain is seemingly unavoidable. But... yet... there is hope.
I am seeking to use these conjunctions in my daily life. I desire to cling to my hope even when the darkness is overly present.
Things are not right in this world, but Jesus is coming back and establishing his glorious Kingdom on earth.
There is so much brokenness in the world, yet God is the God who redeems brokenness. He redeems us.
There is so much truth and hope when those tiny, one-syllable words are used properly. They're changing my life. I hope they are changing yours as well.
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