For a Reason

You've heard people say, "Everything happens for a reason." You may have even said it. We say these kinds of things to people who have encountered a setback (or worse) and we want to make them feel better. It's our way of saying, "Everything will work out in the end." Nice. But is it true?

Biblically, the answer to that question is yes ... and no. Oh, did you not know that it was "no" in some way? Well, here's what we know. "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). "See?" you say, "All things work together for good." And, in that, clearly the answer is "Yes, everything happens for a reason. Yes, it'll all work out in the end." But we need to be careful. The text specifically qualifies that "good."

That good is, first, "for those who love God." There is no reason why anyone who does not love God should expect all things to work together for good, at least, not in their estimation. It's good for those who love God and, therefore, it is good, just not for those who don't love God. And that would be anyone whose mind is set on the flesh (Rom 8:5-8). That good is, second, "according to His purpose." That serves to further explain why it's good for those who love God and not, necessarily, those who do not. If they don't love God, they don't love His purposes. So, again, to those who don't love God or don't love His purposes, all things will not work together for what they consider to be good.

There is, in fact, another qualification of this good. It is an explanation of what God's purpose is and it's found in the next verse.

For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom 8:29)

So, now we know the "good" that all things are working toward. Believers are being conformed by means of "all things" into the image of Christ. That is the good that God has in mind. Now, obviously, if you don't think that it is good to be conformed into the image of Christ, then the "all things" that are supposed to "work together for good" won't. So, no, in this sense it is not true that everything will work out in the end because that end isn't what some (many) consider "good."

It is interesting, though, to flip to the back of the book, so to speak, and see how this comes out. In the end, everything will work out exactly as God purposes (Eph 1:11). In the end, "those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified" (Rom 8:30). So for all of those people everything will work out in the end. On the other hand, in the end, "every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Php 2:10-11). So, in the end, it will work out for them as well, where they glorify God as a display of His wrath and power (Rom 9:22). In the end all will confess that God is good and what He does is right, so in the end, it will all work out. It just doesn't look like it right now to the "many" (Matt 7:13-14) who don't choose God's way in this life. In the end, then, the answer is, "Yes, everything does happen for a reason. In the end it will all work out for good." It's just that not everyone will see it that way for now.