I'm sorry, but this quote has been messing with me lately.
I mean, have you ever had a conversation with someone who says something like:
"It's God's plan."
or
"Everything happens for a reason."
...have you?
Have you ever thought about what this really implies?
-It is God's will for people to get cancer.
-It is God's will that a 5 year old gets shot and dies before he can experience life.
But what about Adam and Eve? Was it God's will that they ate from the only tree they weren't supposed to eat from? Was it God's will that Cain killed Abel?
Seriously
If everything happens for a reason, and that reason is God's will; how does God decide what 5 year old dies and what 5 year old lives?
I'm really struggling with the "everything happens for a reason" mentality.
Its easy to find some sort of comfort in this mentality, but is it truth?
It can be quite uncomfortable to live in a world where bad things happen.
It has been uncomfortable since the chronological location of Genesis 3 (the Fall).
At what point do we start taking responsibility for our actions? This question isn't simply referring to an individualistic type approach, this question is referring to a communal perspective. At what point is an effect the result of a decision we (man) has made?
We find quotes of the "everything happens for a reason" mentality all over "Christian America." Coffee cups, bumper stickers, t-shirts, house decor, and nice and tidy little quotes; all these things constantly feed and fuel the popular mentality.
But does everything happen for a reason?
... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him...
Regardless what happens, historically God has continued to work in and among people who choose their way over His.
Whatever the cause may be, God continues to work in the effects.
God's will?
God's plan?
It may not be as convenient as we would sometimes like it to be, but God's will is a redemption and restoration project through his Son and our teacher, Jesus.
His ways
His love
His Kingdom
