I've argued for many years that the oft-heard phrase, "Everything happens for a reason" and its corollary that God's purposes are served by all things is a load of crap. I've said that sometimes suffering is just suffering without reason because we live in a fallen world.
After reading this post over at By Common Consent, I thought for the first time in more than a decade that I might be wrong about the purpose of suffering.
3 comments:
In more than a decade? Yeesh! I'm wrong on a nearly hourly basis!
And that's just a might be wrong. I don't think I can remember the last time I was actually wrong.
I've never been a fan of "Everything happens for a reason". Sure, some things happen for the reason you're alluding to, but in a lot of cases the reason you're clinging to is just a byproduct of free agency. As was the case with the pedo, pulling him out of that room would have taken away his right to choose.
Sometimes the reason behind a cause is simply the result of someone else's choice, and sometimes it's just the case that Heavenly Father can't save us from every situation.
Yes these experiences can build qualities that will end up helping us in the long run, and yes, everything does happen for a reason, sometimes it's just not the reason you think it is.
We do have some degree of control over our lives and with that control we can use trials to make us stronger, not helpless victims floating down the path of least resistance.
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