"It Happened For a Reason"

You've heard people reflect on a bad experience and comfort themselves and others by saying, "It happened for a reason."  My take on this philosophy is not a popular one and, I suppose it makes some people uncomfortable...but I would like to share it and see if it challenges my readers a bit. 

The Scriptures clearly say that "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more will you Father in heaven , give good gifts to whose who ask Him."  Matthew 7:11  In another verse, Scripture says "Be sober, be vigilant, for your enemy, the devil, is as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."  I Peter 5:8

I know that when bad things happen, tragedy strikes, we can bear the pain easier if we think that God has put this terrible "thing" upon us to teach us a lesson.  It makes it seem as if, just maybe, there is a good reason for "it" to have happened.  But as you can see from the Scriptures above, God gives His children good gifts.  But we have an enemy who is seeking to destroy us.

What gives me hope and helps me through a time that I can't understand or bear, is that Scripture also says, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him." Romans 8:28.  That is a vast difference than God causing bad things to happen to us.  On the contrary, He takes those things and works them to our good, if we allow it. 

I don't say these things lightly.  I have gone through experiences in my life, that at the time, felt hopeless, lonely and heartbreaking.  At the time, I could see no reason for them nor any good that could come from them.  I can say, without fail, that the times that I called on God in those situations, He brought me through and I found victory somewhere in the mess.  That's not to say that I don't carry scars from some of life's battles, but I remain undefeated with hope for my future!

When we lose someone dear to us, or our finances are a mess, or sickness falls on us, to say that God caused those things to teach us something, is really shortchanging Him.  He is omniscient and all knowing and smart enough to teach us the things that we need to learn without causing us harm.  We live in a fallen world and the Bible teaches that the "rain falls on the just and the unjust."  So when we travel through those rough times, He will walk with us, comfort us and show us a way to make some good come of it.

I'm so thankful that I have a heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to walk in goodness and peace.  I'm also grateful that when my life takes a turn for the worse, He is my way out, my shelter from the storm.  When you walk through a storm, don't try to find a reason that God caused it, but instead, glean your hope from how He will walk you through it and cause good to come from it that you may not have suffered in vain.

From His Lap,