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Everything Happens for a Reason? Jesus never said that: Ep 2 of 10 · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  Good morning. You've heard it at church. You've seen it online.
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  Maybe you even said it yourself. You know, it sounds biblical, but is it?
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  Welcome to Jesus Never Said That, a special series from Half Faith, Let It Begin.
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  I'm Angel Santana, and together, we're going to go beyond the quotes,
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  the cliches, and assumptions to discover what God's Word actually says.
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  So grab your Bible, bring your questions.
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  Have faith, let it begin. Starts right now. Have faith, let it begin. Let it start right now.
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  Welcome to Have Faith. Let it begin.
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  Here's your host, Angel Santana. Good morning, everyone, and welcome back.
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  It's episode two, Jesus Never Said That.
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  And today's phrase is one I have heard a lot.
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  I've probably said it myself. Something goes wrong. A door closes. A relationship ends.
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  You lose the job. The diagnosis comes.
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  Someone you love passes away.
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  And eventually, somebody says, well, everything happens for a reason.
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  Usually, the person saying it means, well, they're trying to help.
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  They're trying to make sense out of something that doesn't make sense.
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  Sometimes, we don't know what to say when somebody is hurting.
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  So we reach for something that sounds comforting.
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  And this one sounds biblical, but here's a question.
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  Does the Bible actually say that everything happens for a reason? Not exactly.
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  Scripture gives us something deeper, and I think it's something much more comforting.
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  The Bible doesn't promise that we'll understand the reason behind everything that happens.
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  It promises that God is still present when we don't.
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  Here's a heart check for you. Think about something in your life that never completely made sense.
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  Maybe you've asked God, why? Why did that happen?
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  Why did that person leave? Why didn't that prayer get answered the way I hoped?
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  Why didn't I have to go through it? Why did I have to go through it?
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  Why them? Why now? Why me? And maybe years have passed, and you still don't know.
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  Well, here's today's heart check for you.
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  Can I trust God even when he doesn't give me an explanation?
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  That's harder than it sounds. Because sometimes, what we really want from God isn't comfort.
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  We want answers. We want him to explain himself. And sometimes, he doesn't.
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  But there's a conversation to be had. Here's where we need to be careful.
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  Saying everything happens for a reason can accidentally make it sound like God
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  personally scripted every painful thing that has happened, every tragedy,
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  every betrayal, every act of violence,
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  every terrible decision somebody makes.
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  And then we're left trying to explain why God would want those things to happen.
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  But scripture gives us a world that's more complicated than that,
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  because the bible talks about human choices it talks about sin it talks about
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  consequences talks about suffering it talks about a creation that is broken and groaning,
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  and sometimes terrible things happen because we live in a world that isn't yet
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  the way god intends it to be that doesn't mean god disappeared and it doesn't
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  mean God can't work in the middle of it.
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  But there is a difference between saying, God caused this and saying, God can meet me here.
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  That's an important difference, of course, especially when you're talking to
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  somebody who's hurting.
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  Here's a biblical perspective. Now I know what verse somebody is probably already thinking about.
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  I know I'm thinking of a couple. Romans chapter eight, verse 28 is the one that
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  I'm gonna talk about today.
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  Because Paul writes, and we know that in all things, God works for the good
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  of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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  Sometimes we turn that into everything happens for a reason.
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  But that's not what Paul says. Paul doesn't say everything is good.
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  He says, God works in all things for good.
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  Those aren't the same thing. And look at the context.
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  Roman 8 talks about suffering, creation, groaning, our own weakness,
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  not even knowing what to pray.
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  That's interesting, right? This isn't Paul sitting somewhere comfortably telling
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  hurting people to cheer up.
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  He's acknowledging that suffering is real.
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  And right in the middle of that suffering, he says, God is still working.
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  That's hope. Not that everything that happens is good, but that evil pain.
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  Disappointment, and suffering. Do not get the final word.
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  Then there's Genesis chapter 50, verse 20.
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  Joseph tells his brothers, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.
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  Think about that for a second. You intended to harm me, but God intended it
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  for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
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  Notice what Joseph didn't say. He doesn't say, he doesn't pretend what his brothers did was good.
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  I mean, they betrayed him. They sold him. He suffered because of their actions.
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  Joseph calls it what it was. You intended to harm me.
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  But then he recognizes that God was able to take what others intended for evil and bring good from it.
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  That's different from saying the evil was secretly good all along.
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  No, it wasn't evil, and God was bigger than it.
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  So, when we don't get the why, let's say, how do we say that when we don't get the why?
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  One of the most powerful books in scripture for this conversation is Job.
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  Because Job loses almost everything. Yeah, his children, his possessions, his health.
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  And most of the book is people trying to explain why.
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  Everybody has an answer. Everybody has a theory. Some of Job's friends are basically
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  saying, there has to be a reason.
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  You must have done something wrong.
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  God must be teaching you something. Sound familiar? When God...
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  Oh boy, that does sound familiar. But when God finally speaks, he doesn't hand Job a.
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  Neat explanation for everything that happened.
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  Instead, Job encounters God himself. Now that's uncomfortable.
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  Because sometimes we want God to give us the answer and God gives us his presence.
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  Maybe you've lived through something where you never got the why.
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  Maybe you're still waiting for it.
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  Scripture doesn't force us to manufacture an answer that God hasn't given us.
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  Sometimes the faithful response is simply, I don't know why this happened.
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  And there's nothing wrong with saying that.
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  So here's my personal reflection. This one makes me think about how uncomfortable we can get around pain.
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  When somebody tells us something terrible happened, there's the pressure to
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  say something profound.
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  We want to fix that moment. So we start reaching for phrases.
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  Everything happens for a reason. God needed another angel. It was meant to be.
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  It's all part of the plan. And sometimes I wonder if we're saying those things
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  because the person hurting needs to hear them or because we're uncomfortable sitting in their pain.
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  You know, sometimes ministry looks like having the perfect sentence.
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  Oh yeah, I can relate to that.
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  Maybe it looks like sitting beside somebody and saying, I don't know why this happened, but I'm here.
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  And maybe God is here too. Jesus himself gives us a picture of this, actually. He does.
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  See, when Lazarus died, Jesus came to the tomb.
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  And John 11, verse 35, gives us one of the shortest verses in the Bible.
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  Jesus wept. He knew resurrection was coming.
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  He knew Lazarus wasn't staying in that tomb.
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  And still, Jesus wept.
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  He didn't rush past grief. Just because he knew the ending, that says something to me.
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  So how do we live this out? So what should we say instead?
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  Suppose somebody you love is hurting. Well, instead of saying everything happens
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  for a reason, Maybe we should say, I don't understand why this happened,
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  but you don't have to walk through it alone.
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  Or we could even try something different.
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  I don't know what God is going to do with this, but I believe he's with you in it.
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  Or sometimes saying nothing could be another way. And sit with them and just listen.
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  Maybe cry with them, pray, bring dinner to them, Send a text.
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  Show up again tomorrow. Because sometimes Christians love or spiritual love
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  doesn't need an explanation. It needs a presence.
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  So here's your faith challenge for this week. I want you to remove one sentence
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  from your vocabulary when somebody's hurting.
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  Everything happens for a reason.
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  Don't rush to explain their path. Instead, let's practice three things.
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  Listening, be present, and pray.
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  And if you're the person going through something right now, your challenge is
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  different. Stop pressuring yourself to figure out why.
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  You don't have to understand everything before you trust God.
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  Your prayer this week can simply just be, God, I don't understand this,
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  but please stay close to me in it.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, there are things in our lives that we simply do not understand.
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  There are prayers that didn't turn out the way we hoped.
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  There are losses we still carry. There are questions we ask you more than once.
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  Why? Why did this happen?
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  Why did you allow this?
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  Why didn't you stop it? And sometimes, Lord, we don't have an answer.
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  So today, we're not asking. We're not asking you to give us a neat explanation
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  for every painful thing we've experienced.
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  We're asking you to meet us in it.
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  So for the person listening who is grieving, be near.
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  For the person who is angry, listen to them. For the person who is confused, give them peace.
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  For the person who tried or is tired, I should say, of telling them everything
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  happens for a reason, remind them that they do not have to pretend their pain doesn't hurt.
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  Us to trust. Teach us to trust you without pretending to understand you.
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  And when somebody around us is suffering, help us resist the urge to explain their pain.
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  Teach us to listen. Teach us to stay. And teach us to love.
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  And remember, remind us that even when we cannot see what you're doing,
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  suffering does not get the final word.
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  You are still God. You are still present. And you are still working. In Jesus' name we pray.
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  Amen. So what's today's takeaway?
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  Does everything happen for a reason?
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  The Bible doesn't give us that sentence. It gives us something better.
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  Not everything that happens is good. Not everything that happens comes with an explanation.
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  But God can work even in the things that do hurt.
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  And then in Romans 8, verse 28, doesn't promise that everything will make sense.
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  It reminds us that suffering cannot stop God from working.
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  Maybe we don't always need to know the reason. Maybe sometimes we just need
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  to know God is still here.
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  Has been episode two of the Jesus Never Said That series.
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  That special series is from here. Have faith. Let it begin.
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  So remember our question. It sounds good. It might even sound Christian,
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  but it is actually biblical.
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  And when somebody is hurting, don't feel pressure to give them an explanation.
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  God hasn't given you an explanation. So when somebody is hurting,
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  don't feel that pressure to give them an explanation that God hasn't given you.
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  Sometimes the most Christ-like thing you can offer isn't an answer. It's your presence.
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  So may God be with you. My name is Angel, and never forget, have faith, let it begin.
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  Next episode, next time we talk about, which is tomorrow, episode three,
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  we're gonna be talking about advice that is everywhere. Follow your heart.
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  Movies tell us to do it. Songs tell us to do it. Social media tells us to do it.
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  Just trust your heart. Follow your feelings. Do whatever feels right.
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  But there's one little problem.
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  What happens when my heart leads me in the wrong direction? What does scripture
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  actually say about trusting our hearts?
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  That's episode three of the Jesus Never Said That. Sounds good.
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  It might even sound Christian, but it's actually biblical. Have faith,
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  let it begin. Have faith, let it begin.
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  When it starts while.