For a reason...

I heard it said again recently, "everything happens for a reason."  Rubbish!  Ugh.  UGH!!!

"All things work together for good."  Romans 8:28 

This thought is very different than, "everything happens for a reason."  While the phrase, "everything happens for a reason" paints God as an ogre who places random hurts into our lives, the phrase, "all things work together for good" is a reminder that no matter what the cause of a thing, there is always something that we can learn.

Everything happens for a reason is a cruel thing to tell someone who has had a problem,  I still believe that we can learn something from everyone, and from every circumstance.

• From moving to Florida I learned that friendships are very very important.
• From moving to Cape Coral, I learned that we cannot walk into a situation with certain expectations.
• From watching my daughter move to Chicago, I learned that we cannot control everything.
• From hearing my son being diagnosed with a tumor in his bladder in 2003, I learned that we are very fragile and that life is beyond our control.

On and on I could go.  Everything happens for a reason, no, the Bible does not teach that.  Jesus never says that.  But learn from what happens to us, yes.  We can learn from the painful things of life, if we let life teach us.  

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.