Everything Happens for a Reason is Not That Comforting

Looking back on my life, I guess it's easy to see how God has worked. There have been times I have felt like Job, though. There have been times I have doubted what God was up to. To put it bluntly, there have been the questions of, "What the hell are you doing here God?" and "Where are You?" But there have also been times where I have known God would provide. There have been times where I have held tightly onto the idea that He was working despite the fact that I couldn't see Him.

I have had those "everything happens for a reason" moments along with asking those "why" questions too.

I was involved in a discussion after class the other night about the intervening of God in the lives of men. I know, very light subject indeed. Some of us had the idea that God was there, but He wasn't necessarily working in our everyday lives. That He was watching over us, but not playing with us like chess pieces. Some of us had the differing idea that God is very involved in our lives, orchestrating everything down to the smallest detail.I guess I lean more toward the belief that God is present and guiding me in my everyday life. I do believe in free will, though.

I do wrestle with this though. I mean, how do you tell a couple that is unable to bear children that "everything happens for a reason." How do you tell the widow who lost her husband in Iraq that "everything works together for good for those that love the Lord."

I have never been a fan of coincidence or chance. I do believe that there is a purpose for everything. Even though many times I question that purpose. I don't think my life is series of random events. I don't think that the people that I cross paths with simply come into my life (and I into theirs) because of luck.

But there are things that go on that cause me to doubt sometimes. Bad things do happen to good people. So does that mean that God made or allowed the bad things to happen?

Some things I can't explain and I'm okay with that. To me, God operates on a much grader scale than I do. If He has the creativity and intellect to create everything in existence, He should surely be way above my level. And if He is far above me in the way He does things, then there are probably going to be times I don't understand what He's up to.

I am finite, He is infinite. And I'm okay with that.