Does everything happen for a reason?

Posted: Jun-24-06

Jim, Is there a biblical basis for the sayings "Everything happens for a reason" and "It was just meant to be (or not be)"? Or in other words, how can we appropriate the reality of God's sovereign and hidden plan for our lives as believers? [Note: I am not speaking of predestination and free will here. Simply, what are the things we as believers can trust and find peace in with regards to God's sovereignty over our individual lives?] Digging, Ryan

Hello Ryan! Good to hear from you. :)

If you want a Biblical basis bad enough you could find one. :) A lot of people use Ecclesiastes ("to every thing there is a purpose") to support it. What I think is that most of these kinds of statements are merely rationalizations for things that don't go the way we think it should. You know, "Que sera, sera". We don't like that it happened or that it happened as it did, but we resolve ourselves to be okay with it under the premise that God has it in his plan. We want all things to make sense. We want it all to fit within our perception of justice and fairness and rightness, etc. Paul wrote that God works all things together for our good, and even though some things may have been for a purpose it still doesn't suggest that all things happen for a purpose ... only that he works them together for our good.

Where do we find comfort and peace? In Christ alone. It is being found in him that we find certainty regarding anything. He is the purpose of God and we are in that purpose despite the fact that insanity rules in this world.

Jim