It’s my tagline, it’s my motto, and I say it all the time, even to the extent that I know my friends secretly making gagging motions behind my back – EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Yes! Yes, I do truly believe that. It’s not just my way of writing things off or making light of a situation, I believe that everything is connected and intertwined and perfectly planned out by God.
I often have people challenge me on that. “If it is all part of God’s plan then why do bad things happen”, they say. That is a pretty deep question for the not so educated, struggling Christian (that’s me). What I know for sure though is that I am here today – not by any of my own doing, not by luck or coincidence, but purely by the love and grace of God. He has yet to present me with a problem that I could not work through, although I would not have believed it at the time. Some of them very mountainous problems, but what I found is the closer I got to God and the more I relied on the fact that the problem fit perfectly into His plan, the easier it actually became. Don’t misunderstand me, I really have dealt with AND overcome some pretty daunting situations, some that I actually didn’t know if I would physically survive. Still yet, with all of my doubts and fears, here I am to tell about them. My point is this, regardless of what we are presented with, no matter how difficult a situation it may seem to be, God has intended it for good. Not “my” good or “your” good, but God’s good. It is easy to forget that we were created for God’s glory – created to reflect His image. In His infinite wisdom He has woven together His glory and our good. When we honor God above all other things, we glorify Him and our longing for joy and comfort will be satisfied.
Yesterday I received some news about someone that I dearly love; news that made me sad and angry. I immediately began to question “why”? Why do things happen the way they do? It only took a few minutes though for me to remember that everything happens for a reason. My anger turned to questions. How does this fit into God’s plan? What can I do to help this person? How can I use this situation to glorify God? Today, I awoke with a heavy heart and concern for how to help this person or make a positive impact on this situation. I had to ask God to prop me up today. I composed a quick email to the person, trying desperately to choose just the right words to soothe her pain. By lunch time I was sharing a sandwich with her and this afternoon I noted a lighter tone in her voice when she called. No, everything is not better, everything is not resolved, it is still a terrible situation but I have comfort in knowing it is part of God’s perfect plan.
If you’ve recently had a day like this or even a week like this, rest assured “Everything happens for a reason”.
Really, it does.
