“Everything happens for a reason” is a simple, 5-word phrase that I hear thrown around constantly.
It’s so easy to tell yourself and others who are struggling that everything happens for a reason.
Today, when I tried to encourage a friend with these words, someone asked me if that statement even reflects a Biblical concept. Without thinking I instantly argued “of course it is, people say it all the time.” When I thought about it some more I realized that I obviously didn’t know the greater concept behind that simple phrase. Does the Bible say in exact words that everything happens for a reason? No. But throughout the pages of God’s love letter to us we can find that concept taught. Just to list a few:
-Psalm 139:4, 13-14 “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
-God knew us before we were even thought of. He planned out our days before we were born. (Psalm 139:16)
-Romans 8:28a “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good…”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Just as God created the sun,the moon, and the stars, God planned our lives, our years, and our days. He knows everything about us and because He loves us He wants the very best for us. Here’s the tricky part: (and to be honest, I don’t understand exactly where it fits) God gave us each free will. Because of the free will we have, we sometimes make wrong choices that lead us away from the good thing God had planned for us. We are all imperfect humans living in an imperfect world- and because of that there are going to be unpleasant things that happen.
But here’s the incredible part:
ALL things do work together for good. Even though we go through hard times and trials, eventually God will work all of that together for good. God is not a distant God who created us and then stepped back and just let’s us live however we want. He has His hand in every area of our lives because He loves us and He has a perfect plan for us. (Jeremiah 29:11). Things that might seem to be coincidence or just happen-stance often times might be God orchestrating events according to His will because He knows things that we don’t.
I don’t completely understand this concept. I’m still learning. And I’ll probably be learning it for a while. But what I do know is that God loves me, and He loves you and He has a plan for each of us. I also know that everything works together for an ultimately good reason.
Kayla Vanaman 
I like this, its good to investigate. When Seth died I wondered where in the Bible God says that babies go to heaven, guess what? Its not in there, just like “everything happens for a reason”. BUT, there are plenty of references that point to the concept. For example, one of them is when God let His people wander in the desert. God would not let the people enter into the holy land because of their disobedience (and they died without ever getting to see it) but guess who did get to enter the holy land- ALL of the CHILDREN and next generation of those who wandered because they did not sin with intent.
I didn’t even think about that, Hollie! That’s so true.