That phrase.

We’ve all received it personally gift-wrapped by well-meaning friends, caring loved ones, and kind strangers. It usually comes delivered with the most beautiful of intentions; a buffer of hope raised in the face of the unimaginably painful things we sometimes experience in this life.

It’s a close, desperate lifeline thrown out to us when all other words fail:

Everything happens for a reason.

I’ve never had a tremendous amount of peace with the sentiment. I think it gives the terrible stuff too much power, too much poetry; as if there must be nobility and purpose within the brutal devastation we may find ourselves sitting in. In our profound distress, this idea forces us to run down dark, twisted rabbit trails, looking for the specific part of The Greater Plan that this suffering all fits into.

It serves as an emotional distraction, one that cheats us out of the full measure of our real-time grief and outrage. We stutter and stop to try and find the why’s of all of the suffering, instead of just admitting that maybe there is no why to be found and that perhaps this all simply sucks on a grand scale. May you feel permission to fully acknowledge that profound suckness.

Any even if somewhere beneath all of it; far below all the dizzying trauma that we experience here there is a fixed, redemptive reason for it all, it’s one that will likely remain well beyond our understanding so long as we inhabit flesh and blood.

Deep within the background operating system of my faith there’s a buried, fiercely protected trust in a God who is good and in an existence that matters. But this core truth doesn’t come with the assumption that all things, (including all the horrors we might encounter here), have a purpose. It doesn’t come with a hidden silver lining always knitted into the fabric somewhere, if only we can uncover it.

To believe that, is to risk painting the picture of a God who is making us suffer for sport; throwing out obstacle and injury and adversity just to see what we’ll do, just to toughen us up or break us down. I find it hard to reconcile that with the necessary belief in a God who is not out to squash me.

It’s exhausting enough to endure the dark hours here and not lose our religion, without the addition of a Maker who also makes us bleed. Instead, I prefer to understand God as One who bleeds along with us; Who sits with us in our agony and weeps, not causing us our distress but providing a steady, holy presence in it. This still leaves me with the nagging question of why this God can’t or won’t always remove these burdens from me, but it does allow me to better see the open opportunity provided in tragedy.

There’s an oft-misused excerpt from a pastor’s letter to his faith community found in Scripture, where the author Paul writes:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

This isn’t a Heavenly insurance policy paid with faith and exempting us from anything unpleasant, but the promise that if we choose to respond to all things from a place of love and goodness; that we, not necessarily our circumstances will be better for it.

In this way, I believe in suffering as a sacred space; one where we get to choose.

It’s not a supernatural cause-and-effect experiment from the sky, specifically designed to do something to us or in us, but it is a time and place where we can respond and as we do, we are altered. Our pain does not have a predetermined purpose, (otherwise we would be straddled with the terribly complicated task of figuring it out in a billion small decisions every single day), but that pain will always yield valuable fruit.

As much as I hate to admit it, my times of deepest anguish have almost always been the catalyst for my greatest learning, but I could have easily learned different lessons had I chosen differently. Yes, I certainly grew tremendously in those trying times, but I could have grown in another direction altogether with another choice. In that way, those moments of devastation held no single, microscopic needle-in-the-haystack truth to hunt for while I grieved and struggled, but there was still treasure to be found in the making of my choices and in their ripples.

No I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe there is meaning in how we respond to all things that happen to us, even when they are not at all good things.

Be encouraged as you suffer and choose.

Vooks, AllNaijaBlogger, Hiswordxray can we discuss this?

ZzZzzZZzz

sonOfLucifer:
Vooks, AllNaijaBlogger, Hiswordxray can we discuss this?

Agent of Satan, what do you want to discuss?

I suspect you want to troll but nevertheless....

The article is right. It is not about the situation but about how we respond to it. And the Bible didn't say that it is God that throw those circumstances at us but here is what the Bible says:
"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone... Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (Jam 1:13,16-17)

But when we found ourselves in unpleasant situations God doesn't always come to our rescue but He expect us to draw from that which He had deposited in us "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1John 4:4) And we are "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world" (2Pet 1:4).

When we are able to overcome this situations and come out strong we would discover that: "I can do all things through Christ b who strengthens me." (Phi 4:13)
This is one of the greatest discovery one can ever have. To know that you are invincible through Christ, Oh such confident. That is what we need in this confused and fear driven world. To break free from our weakness and fear of the future with the discovery that you are up to the tasks, you can do all things because you have "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Col 1:27)

sonOfLucifer:
That phrase.

No I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe there is meaning in how we respond to all things that happen to us, even when they are not at all good things.

OP
Am tired of reading long lamentations meanwhile, check my Signature

sonOfLucifer:
That phrase.

We’ve all received it personally gift-wrapped by well-meaning friends, caring loved ones, and kind strangers. It usually comes delivered with the most beautiful of intentions; a buffer of hope raised in the face of the unimaginably painful things we sometimes experience in this life.

It’s a close, desperate lifeline thrown out to us when all other words fail:

Everything happens for a reason.

I’ve never had a tremendous amount of peace with the sentiment. I think it gives the terrible stuff too much power, too much poetry; as if there must be nobility and purpose within the brutal devastation we may find ourselves sitting in. In our profound distress, this idea forces us to run down dark, twisted rabbit trails, looking for the specific part of The Greater Plan that this suffering all fits into.

It serves as an emotional distraction, one that cheats us out of the full measure of our real-time grief and outrage. We stutter and stop to try and find the why’s of all of the suffering, instead of just admitting that maybe there is no why to be found and that perhaps this all simply sucks on a grand scale. May you feel permission to fully acknowledge that profound suckness.

Any even if somewhere beneath all of it; far below all the dizzying trauma that we experience here there is a fixed, redemptive reason for it all, it’s one that will likely remain well beyond our understanding so long as we inhabit flesh and blood.

Deep within the background operating system of my faith there’s a buried, fiercely protected trust in a God who is good and in an existence that matters. But this core truth doesn’t come with the assumption that all things, (including all the horrors we might encounter here), have a purpose. It doesn’t come with a hidden silver lining always knitted into the fabric somewhere, if only we can uncover it.

To believe that, is to risk painting the picture of a God who is making us suffer for sport; throwing out obstacle and injury and adversity just to see what we’ll do, just to toughen us up or break us down. I find it hard to reconcile that with the necessary belief in a God who is not out to squash me.

It’s exhausting enough to endure the dark hours here and not lose our religion, without the addition of a Maker who also makes us bleed. Instead, I prefer to understand God as One who bleeds along with us; Who sits with us in our agony and weeps, not causing us our distress but providing a steady, holy presence in it. This still leaves me with the nagging question of why this God can’t or won’t always remove these burdens from me, but it does allow me to better see the open opportunity provided in tragedy.

There’s an oft-misused excerpt from a pastor’s letter to his faith community found in Scripture, where the author Paul writes:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

This isn’t a Heavenly insurance policy paid with faith and exempting us from anything unpleasant, but the promise that if we choose to respond to all things from a place of love and goodness; that we, not necessarily our circumstances will be better for it.

In this way, I believe in suffering as a sacred space; one where we get to choose.

It’s not a supernatural cause-and-effect experiment from the sky, specifically designed to do something to us or in us, but it is a time and place where we can respond and as we do, we are altered. Our pain does not have a predetermined purpose, (otherwise we would be straddled with the terribly complicated task of figuring it out in a billion small decisions every single day), but that pain will always yield valuable fruit.

As much as I hate to admit it, my times of deepest anguish have almost always been the catalyst for my greatest learning, but I could have easily learned different lessons had I chosen differently. Yes, I certainly grew tremendously in those trying times, but I could have grown in another direction altogether with another choice. In that way, those moments of devastation held no single, microscopic needle-in-the-haystack truth to hunt for while I grieved and struggled, but there was still treasure to be found in the making of my choices and in their ripples.

No I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe there is meaning in how we respond to all things that happen to us, even when they are not at all good things.

Be encouraged as you suffer and choose.

I was sent to tell u,that 2015 shall be your last in the world

Only one option for u accept Christ and be save or u will be condem in eternity with fire and brime stone

Gejpresident:
I was sent to tell u,that 2015 shall be your last in the world

Only one option for u accept Christ and be save or u will be condem in eternity with fire and brime stone

I'm not a fan of the demonic sonoflucifer , but you guys give him reasons to believe God doesn't exist ..

which one is "I was sent to tell u" sent by your wife or the Chief priest of your village? ...

and you come up with the funny "2015 shall be your last" , bruh even Jesus would ask you to tell him that...


I keep praying for SonOfLucifer to repent, and stop attacking Christians and Muslims sha because if what happened to Saul happens to you, my broda "you fit no survive am oo"

durubrian:


I'm not a fan of the demonic sonoflucifer , but you guys give him reasons to believe God doesn't exist ..

which one is "I was sent to tell u" sent by your wife or the Chief priest of your village? ...

and you come up with the funny "2015 shall be your last" , bruh even Jesus would ask you to tell him that...


I keep praying for SonOfLucifer to repent, and stop attacking Christians and Muslims sha because if what happened to Saul happens to you, my broda "you fit no survive am oo"

Smh. Who is Saul?

sonOfLucifer:


Smh. Who is Saul?

Hey my friend, you are still around, I miss you.
I know you have been doing a lot of thinking for a while now, so when are you going to make the final decision?
haven't you find what you are looking for, or are you yet not satisfied with the answers you have got?
I don't want to put pressure on you, for I and my Father are very patient but you have to be decisive. You can't keep standing at the middle, just come to a final decision.

Alright dear good luck, God loves you.

I was sent to tell u,that 2015 shall be your last in the world

Only one option for u accept Christ and be save or u will be condem in eternity with fire and brime stone

Who sent you? Shame to you and they that gave you the message.
Your useless, powerless god couldn't do anything.
This is d news, SonOfLucifer is alive.

Hail Satan!!!