The question of the day: Do you think everything happens for a reason?
It depends on what you mean by that. The question represents a misunderstanding of Romans 8:28.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
I know there’s a bunch of confusing words, and right in the middle there’s a phrase that says: all things work together for good.
It’s just that if you take that phrase out of context it loses all its meaning. If you’re just waiting in life for things that happen to you, expecting them to be good, you live a pretty miserable life. Most things that happened to you are not good. Maybe a few things are, but most are not. Often the things that don’t seem good can be turned around and made into something good. That may be confusing, so let me explain.
If you want to do something good, like be an Olympic champion, it takes a lot of hardship to build up muscles and stamina. Without that kind of discipline, you will never rise to the level of an Olympic champion. You’ve turned a hard thing into a good thing.
Is every hard thing that comes our way meant to work out to develop us for good? I would say, no. There are some things that are just plain dangerous, and we would be wise to steer clear of them. Some things that may even look beautiful, but turned out to be deadly. A tiger in a zoo looks harmless. A big fluffy cat that you just want to put your arms around and pet. I don’t think I need to tell you how bad of an idea it would be to get too close to a tiger.
There is a lot of power in the concept that all things work out for the good. But look at the rest of the conditions in that one Bible verse.
For starters it’s God who causes all things to work out for good. This is something that the apostle Paul says that we can know as truth. God causes all things to work together for good. Is this a blanket promise for everyone? Absolutely not.
God Works things out for those who love him. But wait! There’s more! It’s not just people who love God. It’s not that if you love God, he will cause only good things to happen to you. It’s not even that he allows some bad things happen that work out to be good. He causes all things to work together to those who are called. That means he chooses you, not you choosing him.
There is still one more layer to this. The ones he calls, the ones that he makes things work together for good, are according to his purpose those who are called according to “his” purpose, not “our” purpose
Things may indeed work together for good. But to make sure you’re on the receiving end of that good, be sure that you are one of his called people. The good you may receive is not for your good, it’s for his purpose. So strive to be aligned with his purpose. Then, even if life throws you some curveballs that don’t seem good at all, by being aligned with God’s purpose, in the end all things come together for his good. And of course, those who he has called for that purpose.
Daily devotional time is over.
