Yesterday a sweet friend reminded me of something.  I was talking to her about how my job was coming to an end and she reminded me that everything happens for a reason. I agreed and remembered that it was through a job that I didn’t get, that I ended up working at my current job and it was a much better fit for someone going back to work after 11 years of being a stay-at-home mom.  God is always in control.  After talking to her, I was reminded of a post I read a couple of weeks ago as I was scrolling through Facebook. Someone had  reposted a blog that talked about the fact that there are things in our life that happen for no reason at all. It went on to say something to the effect that telling people who have experienced tragedy that there was a reason behind it was hurtful and wrong and that you should no longer speak to those people.  Now I don’t remember who the blogger was or the title of the article, I just remember how I felt reading it. I felt alone, sad, and hopeless.  Now don’t get me wrong…there are things we shouldn’t say when someone has first gone through a tragedy, in fact, when someone has gone through something traumatic, we shouldn’t have to say anything, we should just be present to listen, to help, and to be a shoulder to cry on. However, just because we shouldn’t say something right away, doesn’t make it untrue.

I have been through some pretty difficult and traumatic things in my life, things that can not be explained.  I don’t know about you, but the thought that I have gone through this, suffered and dealt with all this pain for no reason seems pretty awful to me.  The thought that everything that happens in our lives is just random and has no purpose sounds a lot worse to me than knowing that everything we go through has purpose.

The bible makes it very clear to us, that God is in control of everything that happens.  Nothing takes him by surprise, he has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens to us both the big things and the small things, the tragic and the wonderful.

One of my favorite chapters in the bible that reminds me of this is Psalm 139.  I encourage you to read the whole thing, but just look at verses 13-16

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Look at the end of verse 16….”all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” ALL the days!  Every day we live has been careful planned out by our Creator.

Psalm 33:13-15 says this:

“From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do” 

God watches over his creation, He knows everything that goes on.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us:

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”

This shows us again of the sovereignty of God.  He is the one who orders our steps.

I could go on and on, with verse after verse.  Like Ecclesiastes 3:1

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”

The bottom line is, God is sovereign in the lives of men.  He is the one who is in control of what happens.  He knows all and that means He knows what is going to happen in our lives and he has a plan and a purpose as he tells us in his word.

Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

He also promises those who have put their trust in Him that ALL things will work together for good.  Meaning, no matter what happens in your life, God can and will use it for good.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 NLT

We see this clearly in the life of Joseph, which I talked about more in-depth back in February in a post called Waiting=Training.

Now for me it is very reassuring to know that everything that happens to me is carefully handled by the Creator of the universe, by the One who knows me better than I know myself and loves me more deeply that I can imagine, by the one who promises good out of ALL things, and has a plan and a purpose for everything in my life and in the lives of those I love.   It is a comfort and it gives me hope.  I may not always understand this and at times, I can’t see how, but the truth remains that all God’s promises are true and so I can rest in that knowledge. So yes, everything happens for a reason!