Yet

Sometimes in life the best gifts come in small packages. Whether it is a tiny gift envelope stuffed with cash or the tiny bundle of a newborn baby, sometimes the greatest gifts are quite small. It is true with our English language, too. One of the most powerful words in the English dictionary is the tiny, three-letter word yet. Y.E.T.

Yet is a powerful word that brings a person’s story up to the present moment. Yet conveys the idea of a convergence between everything that has happened before and where we are now. Additionally, yet implies the idea of a future. It hasn’t happened yet, but we believe that it will. We haven’t been there yet, but someday we will be.

A synonym of the word yet is the word nevertheless. This is how things have always been done; nevertheless, things are about to change. Life has always moved in this sad direction; nevertheless, a course correction is coming.

In Psalm 22, David touched yet’s power. In the opening verses, he prayed the agonizing prayer that Jesus quoted from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. I cry out to you day and night but I find no rest.” His psalm began with a cry of anguish and despair, but then in verse three, it shifted directions, pivoting on the three-letter word yet. “Yet, you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the one that Israel praises.”

My prayer for you in this coming year is that you too would experience the power of yet, the power of nevertheless.

Perhaps things have not happened in your life the way you had hoped and dreamed. Perhaps, your story is laced with disappointment. Nevertheless, your story is not over yet. There are still yets and neverthelesses waiting to connect your past with the future that God has ordained for you. There is more for you. There is still hope, dynamism, and joy on your horizon. God is still enthroned God is still at work and someday you will see great things.