Does everything really happen for a reason?
It was always my belief that things happen for a reason. That life hits us with events that we have no control over but when we look at the bigger picture there was always a reason for it happening, a lesson to learn.
Then last month I read something in the local paper that shocked me. A mother had lost her daughter. Her daughter threw herself off a building to her death. Why? Because she was mourning the loss of her sister. Two years before her young teenaged sister had been raped and then stabbed to death.
It made me think. Could I stand in front of this mother and tell her everything happens for a reason? The answer is no I could not. It made me question whether I had taken on believing something I read in a book that sounds great in theory but doesn’t always fit in practise.
I still believe that when an event happens to me personally I can take a look at that event and see how dealing with it will help me transform my way of thinking, feeling or behaving. But I have to admit that if something happened to my children I don’t think I could be that charitable.
About Diane Corriette
I write on this self development blog about building self confidence, and living a life of full self expression where you are free to be you. Being able to be confident is not so much about how you think but what you feel. To successfully build self confidence you must use your thoughts to create an image of who you want to be, and your emotions to help you feel this amazing new you and then visualise & focus on it until it becomes your reality.
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I don’t say this to be callous to someone’s pain, but I believe in the truth of the words, “Where there is life, there is always hope,” & that no matter how horrendous the event or unbearable the circumstance, there is always a purpose that will be realized if you don’t give up. It’s not by any means easy to hold on, & I can only imagine how agonizingly difficult it is to not give up, when those dearest to you have themselves given up, but I know that God will help you through the pain & give you peace in your heart again, if you hold on to Him.
Everything really does happen for a reason, & I don’t say that because it “sounds great in theory,” but because it’s the truth (Romans 8:18,28). I know people who have been through horrible, traumatic, heartbreaking things, who wanted to give up, but by God’s grace made the choice to trust Him & refuse to give up. Those same people are today using their own life experiences to save other lives, other people who are going through similar or even identical things, who would surely have given up on life if it had not been for that encouragement from someone who can honestly say, “I know how it feels, I’ve been there, & I thought it was the end, but it’s not; I found my peace & you can find yours.”
We humans tend to think that if there’s a reason for things happening, that we ought to be able to see what that reason is, & to see it right when it’s happening, too. But God doesn’t work like that; Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” And just because we can’t yet see the purpose God has for someone’s life when something so shockingly awful happens in their life doesn’t mean that He has none. Just because we don’t know what God’s plan is, doesn’t mean that He doesn’t have one. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Many times we can’t even theorize what God’s purpose might be in allowing something so bad to happen. But knowing & understanding 3 things about God that do not change – 1: that He LOVES us (John 3:16), 2: that He CAN DO ANYTHING (Luke 1:37), & 3: that He KNOWS EVERYTHING (1 John 3:20) – should be sufficient grounds to trust Him for anything He allows to happen. Just think about how much you love your children, & then imagine that love without any imperfection whatsoever. That’s how much God loved His Child, & yet He loved us so much that He GAVE Jesus up to a horrific, agonizing death, to save our lives for eternity.
Now if He loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son for our sakes (point 1), He would do absolutely anything for us, & He has the power to (point 2); so, if He has the power to prevent some tragedy, & He doesn’t, it HAS to be because He (point 3) KNOWS something we don’t know, a purpose so great & good that the pain of that tragedy will be nothing in comparison to it. Because He loves us THAT MUCH, He would never allow something to happen to us for no good reason, & the worse the event, the better that reason has got to be.
Sometimes it is more comforting to hear that everything happens for a reason, than everything happens for no reason.
Peace in the midst of the storm only comes when we make the decision to trust that the One Who can command the wind & waves is therefore stronger than the storm & if He doesn’t keep it away from us, He will still keep us & bring us through it.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18