At some point in our lives we have said that “everything happens for a reason” when trying to figure out why something has happened or frustration with trying to explain it.
So if everything happens for a reason, what is the reason?
There are things that have happened in my own life when I didn't know the reason until months or even years later. It was then when I looked back on the situation and understood the reason.
And then there are times when we just simply will never know.
I have never been one who was good with that explanation that everything happens for a reason. I have an inquiring mind. I want to know why something has happened. It’s just understandable that we all want to know the why. I’m not comfortable with not knowing the reason.
The painful truth is that we don’t always get that information. Sometimes we know the reason and sometimes we don’t.
Sometimes the reason is because we’ve screwed things up.
I can speak from first hand experience on this one because I can get impatient and want to force the issue and I simply mess it up by doing so. It is in those times when we are left to clean up our own messes. I know that many people stress about making decisions - I know at times that I do. We all want to make the absolutely right decisions. We don’t want to make the wrong choice. Unfortunately there are no absolutes in our decision making and we will mess it up. We just do our best and work with the consequences.
There have been many times when I have planned something for us but even with looking up the reviews and doing my best research, when we arrive it has ended up being a dud. It doesn’t happen every time but when it does, I am disappointed. But, the thing we have to remember is that we won’t know unless we try. Yes, sometimes we fail and make the wrong decisions but we learn from them and we can’t be afraid to make deicisions.
There are also times that we just will never know the reason. I don’t like this part. the Bible tells us that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8) Which means that God isn’t obligated to share the reason with us. Honestly we get frustrated with that because we are creatures who want to know. We want to know why the bad things happen in our lives. We think we are owed an explanation but we really aren’t. God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants to do it. There are times I want to know why He doesn’t reveal Himself or speak in an audible voice. That’s something I sometimes have a hard time with. It isn’t because I don’t believe. I guess it’s because I want to know my reason. Simple as that.
Regardless, God is fully capable of turning our bad decisions and mistakes into good (Romans 8:28). We may not always have the reasons we want. We just have to trust the unknown reasons to an all-knowing God. He has a bigger perspective on things than we have. We won’t always know why things happen for a reason, we just need to believe that He is in control.
Do I like that answer? No I honestly don’t but what can I do about it? I can either live in frustration or believe that He is working all things out according to His purpose.
