Looking for the Good

Everything happens for a reason. I have heard that stupid saying so many times in my life I sometimes want to grab the person saying it by the shoulders and shake them until I see some sense come into their eyes. “Why is this happening,” I would say as I shook them.

But seriously, I think many people ascribe everyday things to God’s will for their life and I maybe even believe that even if they found a salamander in their soup at an upscale restaurant they would say, well there’s a reason for everything.

We are not, nor is the life we live, on God’s marionette strings. We live in a fallen sinful world. Things happen, good things, bad things, everyday ordinary things just happen. I think that when things are good or uneventful, we live our life in our little zone and just carry on. It seems that only when adverse events happen that we fall back on the---well, everything happens for a reason---mantra.

When my alarm went off this morning just as it does every morning, I didn’t sigh and say, well, everything happens for a reason. I just got up, thanked God for the fact that I have a job, and went to work. When I had my Cheerios for breakfast I didn’t believe that I was having Cheerios, instead of Captain Crunch, for a reason. I was just eating.

Looking for the good in everything is wonderful counsel. Things can drag us down if we let them. We all know Romans 8:28, For we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. It doesn’t say, only good things will happen to those who love God. So, yes, the things that happen in our lives can work together for good, but that doesn’t mean that something was deliberately directed to happen by God in our lives. I believe it means that, Life is going to happen, good, bad, happy, sad, rich, poor, sickness, health, it just happens. Not for a reason. It just happens and God can use those events, whatever they may be, for good, if we let him. He wants to. Sometimes it’s hard to see that good in the midst of the challenge, but if we love God, he can and does use our life events for good. That’s the key. Love God and believe he can use those things. Not the other way around. Not believing that God made something happen for a reason and so we just accept it.

I don’t believe for one minute that the Lord pointed his all powerful finger at my wife and gave her cancer. I don’t believe he took her from me to teach me a lesson. I’ve said before that I believe disease, murder, child molesting, drugs, alcohol, and all those things are part of the fallen world we live in. I do believe that He can use my loss, and I can be used by Him, because of my loss, but only if I love God. Only if I believe that what has happened, just happened as part of life, and trust Him even when I can’t see Him using that.

I know that many were touched deeply by the way Karen lived her life as well as the way she lived, and passed away from her cancer. Trusting God, still believing in his faithfulness, and still living her faith. I also know that people have been watching me to see how I continue to live. It isn’t always easy, and I have failed in many ways, but I have never been angry with or blamed God. I still have my faith. I still believe he can use me in great ways if I let him.