Umm... I don't know. I want to think so, but sometimes there are small things that just don't really seem to matter.
In talking with my friend Marla today and mentioning this, she had a couple great ideas of what God's reasons could be. I gave her a scenario from last night where Mark and I had a plan of how to get our errands worked out and it didn't happen the way we had thought. Not like a "we had our own agenda and didn't leave room for God", it was just a simple stop at Mark's work, but he'd left his keys at home, creating a few kinks in our plan. Simple... so, what was the "big" reason behind it?? Or was there a "big" reason and it was just a little thing that happened.
When I hear comments about God "testing us" or challenging us or stretching us, it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I feel like it's God being cruel or something. This is an element of God I don't and might not possibly ever understand. I can throw out all the theories about possible car accidents avoided by getting stuck behind a slow car, or a growth opportunity God might be putting me through, or even something more simple. But in the end, I am left with two things. Faith and trust. Trust that God will do as he says and have my best interest in mind (Rom 8:28), and faith that he IS and DOES what he says he is and will do (e.g. help me when I ask).
Sort of like what my parents used to say, "You don't have to like it, you just have to do as I say." Although in terms of God, I will choose to find the joy in trusting and obeying and having faith, even in small things like forgetting keys or bigger things, like my husband being out of the country for the second freakin time in less than 6 months of being married. And maybe God will choose to give me glimpses of "why" here on earth but otherwise looking forward to getting the full story (if I still care) when I'm with him one day in paradise.
Speaking of paradise, that left-over chocolate pie from last night was a little slice! Or, in my case, a kind of too big slice.
5 thoughts from other people:
I really like this post. Maybe because I never think about smaller-esque things as being a reason from God. Like hangnails or something. Is there really a point? I don't think so, or maybe I just don't think it falls under something to really waste my time contemplating if God is in my hangnail or not. I think I fall under the same view as you, I just have faith that God is sitting up in heaven watching out for me and He loves me and wants what is best for me.
Picking up from what Jenna said: It comes down to our theology of what it is that God does.
IMO, there is the reality of cause and effect. Mark forgot the keys and the effect was that your plans didn't run as smoothly as you intended. Or, you and your jogging friend left your purses in plain view, and someone broke into the car to steal them. Or I don't get enough sleep or exercise and my immunity is down and I get sick.
In other words, is God actually in the details of forgetting car keys or leaving our purses out? And if he is, then what do you do with the thousands of children who are orphaned in various African countries, daily? Or the single mother of a six year old who has end stage cancer?
I think we're called to be responsible in what WE do and that we ask God to give us wisdom. Sometimes it helps to have a global view of suffering in the world to remember that we in the west live such privileged existences. Trying to figure out if God ordained one to get a cold, lose one's keys or miss out on a parking place seems to come right out of that entitled, Western viewpoint that sometimes tends to view God as a bellhop.
NOT saying you're doing that at all! :-) Just that in the West our concept of who God is tends sometimes to be very small, down to the trivial of a hangnail, and it comes out of that 'privileged' position.
Good, hard questions!
Definitely good questions! I don't believe that God tries to "micro-manage" our lives -- not that He isn't powerful enough to do so...
Consider this: what sets us apart from lesser creatures and angels is Free Will. As A. Nonny Mouse said, there is the reality of cause and effect -- or maybe it would be more accurate to say actions and consequences. Given that, God doesn't need to micro-manage. Instead, he holds us accountable for our actions and does nothing to change the consequences, good or bad.
That concept is one that an unbelieving world has a hard time understanding. Whenever someone takes an action that causes disastrous consequences, the unbelievers cry "If there is a God, how can He let this happen?" The answer is Free Will.
Forgetting car keys is a very small thing and the consequences were that your schedule was upset in a minor sort of way. But what if forgetting the keys caused you to drive too fast and you hit someone? The thing to remember is small or large, minor or major, we need to be responsible for our actions and always bear in mind the potential consequences of our actions.
That is what accountability is all about.
Hmm...As to your actual question in the title of your post, it could be said that yes, everything happens for a reason.
That minor incident caused you to think about it and then write a post that has already stimulated some great discussion and caused your readers to ponder the same question.
It always makes me feel like a rockstar when you mention my name in your blog. ;)
I finally started to blog again and then realized that I hadn't read yours in a while because of the craziness of my life lately.
I'm so glad Mark is back and I can't wait to see you soon, very very soon. I start work tomorrow, I can't wait. God is so rocking my world right now and I can hardly believe my blessings.
Love you!!!
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