I really hope I don’t shake anyone’s faith with the title! But for some reason I’ve just been thinking a lot about this lately - I'm not even sure how much this matters, but it is what it is, I guess. Anyway, these are some of my thoughts!
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The Plan of Salvation cannot function without the key element of agency. Agency is a gift given to God’s children to choose our own path - to obey his commandments or not to. God holds this gift with such sacrosanctity that He will never interfere with it! He will not make decisions for us - ever.
In all matters except for the Creation, the Fall, the atonement of Christ, and the Second Coming, God’s will cannot be done unless we allow it to be. God loves us, and it is therefore His will to do good and bless us; but the scriptures tell us that our faith is what precedes miracles, not God’s love. Our obedience is what brings blessings, not God’s love.
How, therefore, could everything happen for a reason if God does not control our agency?
When your son is hit by a drunk driver, did that happen for a reason?
When you’re absolutely lonely because you spent all your time with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and now you’ve broken up and have no friends, did that happen for a reason?
When Islamic terrorists behead innocent people and post it to the internet, does that have a reason?
What about when you find out your husband is cheating on you, your child left the church and won’t speak to you anymore, or you’re fired from your job based on your poor performance in the work place, did any of those things happen “for a reason”?
No. I’m sorry to say that they didn’t happen for a reason.
Look, sometimes crap just happens, and it’s not God’s fault that somebody - maybe us - used agency poorly. Hear me out though, because there is a silver lining!
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God knows the end from the beginning, not because He has decided what will happen and what we will do, but because He simply knows us so well that He knows what we will do, and He has formulated a plan accordingly. That plan is Jesus Christ.
The Christ is God’s way of mending the broken hearts of His children after agency has been used for ill. Even though not everything happens for a reason, His atonement allows us to respond to those things in such a way that we turn those things for our good.
Families whose children are killed by drunk drivers have found power to forgive, and even care for and help the drunk drivers who killed their child. They turned a tragedy into an opportunity to demonstrate Christ-like love, changing their lives and the drunk driver’s life forever.
Does that mean that God arranged for a drunk driver to kill their son so that the family and the drunk driver could grow closer together and to God? Absolutely not! But He knew it would happen, so He arranged for Jesus to perform the atoning sacrifice, which allowed the family to respond to life in such a way that turned their trial into a blessing. Jesus Christ was God’s will, not the killing.
When you find yourself alone because someone you love has left you, do not blame God for it. It probably wasn’t His will to bring you heartache - in fact, it probably wasn’t His will that you date them in the first place! But now that you’ve come to this situation, it is His will that you rely on the power of Christ, learn from your experience, and grow closer to Him thereby.
I fear that too often we get into the habit of saying, “Well everything happens for a reason! Therefore…” and then we go on to basically place accountability on God instead of ourselves. And yes, when we are doing our best to know and follow God’s will, then many things - not all, but many - will happen for a reason because our faith and obedience are inviting the power of God into our lives.
But often, things happen to us simply because of our own poor choices or the poor choices of those around us; these are not God’s will, nor do they happen “for a reason”. But God has given us a scapegoat to our pain, if we are willing to use it!
God never said anywhere in the scriptures: "Behold, I say unto you that all things whatsoever shall happen unto you shall be for a reason." It's not how He works, and it violates His own laws. (It sounds kind of silly anyway.)
So even though not everything happens for a reason, everything does have the potential to work out for our good if we will only respond to them by walking uprightly before God.
So even though not everything happens for a reason, everything does have the potential to work out for our good if we will only respond to them by walking uprightly before God.
Romans 8:28
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”
Doctrine and Covenants 105:40
“And make proposals for peace unto those who have smitten you, according to the voice of the Spirit which is in you, and all things shall work together for your good.”
Doctrine and Covenants 100:15
“Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church.”
Doctrine and Covenants 90:24
“Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.”
Doctrine and Covenants 98:3
“Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Taylor, a dead missionary
