Does everything happen for a reason?
January 13, 2010
Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know I’m slacking; I took a 10 day break, no big deal. But seriously I have just been super busy with getting ready for school and other misc. activates. Anyway I am sorry and I will try to get at least three posts out a week. So I am going to school in like 5 days, which is pretty crazy. The reality of it all is starting to sink in and it is quite a feeling. I can’t wait to meet tons of new people and to take interesting classes, it is gonna rock! But I’ll save this school mumbo-jumbo for when I get there mmmkkayyyy. So the other day I was laying on the sofa, half asleep, when this dude rings my door bell. He said that he probably had the wrong house, but he was looking for Mr. Gotwalls. Mr. Gotwalls is the father of this girl in my grade who I went to school with and I was good friends with in 6th and 7th grade. His son recently died by falling in a quarry and this guy was telling me how he was an old friend of Mr. Gotwalls and how he heard about his son
and he was going to sympathize with Mr. Gotwalls. I told him where Mr. Gotwalls lives, and I expressed to him how sad it all was and I talked with this random dude for a bit, and then closed the door. This got me thinking about something. I am not sure if this is something that I should know, that the Bible clearly states, or if this is something that is up in the air or whatever. But I was wondering if every single little thing that happens on earth happens for a reason, or do some things happen just because. Like is there a reason that that guy came to the wrong house and talked to me first, or did that just happen to happen. Like I am sure that sometimes God makes things happen for a reason, like somebody getting stuck in traffic and missing a flight that ends up crashing, or stuff like that you hear about all the time. Like I just don’t know if there is even an answer to that, and I am not sure if there is any way of knowing. But maybe you guys know something I don’t. But that would be pretty crazy if everything did happen for a reason, like even the smallest things ever like a leaf falling at a certain time to provide shade for a hot lizard, or you know anything and everything, it is just crazy to think that that may be the case. But even if EVERYthing doesn’t happen for a reason, it is also even crazy to think about how some things happen for a reason, and it is so cool to see some of those things from the other end of the spectrum, meaning being affected by the occurrence rather than creating the reaction; but it is also cool to think that anything you do can also cause a reaction. I don’t know if any of this even makes sense, but tell me what you think. Does every single thing, and I mean EVERYTHING, happen for a reason?
I just thought more about it, and I don’t see how everything could happen for a reason, because there is sin that happens, and I don’t think that God would make sin happen.
I’m so glad you’re putting your thoughts on a blog, Z. You’re such a great thinker – you have been since I met you in 6th grade. We used to think you would answer questions just to get the coveted Mrs. Sheaffer brownies, but it’s clear that God has given you a deep heart for the Bible and for making Jesus known. Good stuff.
The question you’re asking is a heavy one, and it’s tempting to try to figure it out in a way that we can see/understand/comprehend. It’s so important that we put the highest possible value on what God himself says through the Scriptures; that way he is the authority, not us. We need to look at the Bible and ask the question “does everything happen for a reason?”
The reason why I felt like I needed to chime in here is because this tragedy literally happened in my backyard – it’s my uncle’s quarry and the kid who died was at my cousin’s birthday party when it happened. I went to the funeral with my uncle (who is not a believer) and spoke with Mr. Gotwols (who is also not a believer) and I don’t know exactly what God is doing/going to do in their hearts. Here’s a link to the story:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times/courier_times_news_details/article/28/2009/september/29/parents-sue-quarry-over-sons-death.html
I won’t type a book here; I’ll send you an email with some of my thoughts and the Scripture I’ve turned to.
Zach I think that everything does happen for a reason. We might not know what that reason is for awhile or ever find out why that happened–but God does not just let things happen just because. He has a reason. He sees the WHOLE picture, where we only see a little piece of it. I think it is just awesome to see God work in different ways (in the same “random” ways or in the bigger more noticeable ways).
Those are my thoughts.