June 6, 2021

Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

Written by:
Rev (Dr) Prabhudas Koshy

These days, it is common to hear people saying, “Everything happens for a reason.”  Not all, however, who make that assertion have in their minds the biblical truth of Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Some express it out of their fatalistic mindset. Fatalism recognises neither God’s sovereign providence nor His overarching plan. Instead, fatalism propounds some blind, arbitrary, aimless impersonal force that controls and determines everything. To its adherents, there is no rhyme or reason to the “fated” outcomes. So, to them, the world is an arena of irrational events and calamities.

However, Scripture teaches (as in Romans 8:28) that it is God who controls and directs all things. God’s providence coordinates all the events of this world, for the good of His people and for His glorious purposes. So, the biblical view, which is contrary to fatalism, states that God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11b), and that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

While it is true that everything happens according to God’s providence, it is totally wrong to think that all things will work out for good to those who conduct themselves irresponsibly and without faith in God. It is a vain assumption that all things will work together for good to those who reject the Gospel and defy the LORD. The sad truth is, things do not work out for the good of those who renounce the grace of God and live in their sins without repentance.

God’s providence works everything out for the good of those who love Him, and for His praise. This is a very comforting promise of God in the Scriptures for His people. When we trust and obey God, He guides our every step forward. As the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass” (3.1).

God determines not only the final outcomes of events, but also the means to those ends. For instance, God, who decreed that Joseph would be the second-in-authority in Egypt, next to Pharaoh, for the good of his family, also ordained the successive events that led him to that outcome (Gen 50:20). The cruel actions of his brothers, and even the malice of Potiphar’s seductive wife, which led to his incarceration, were all determined by God’s providence.

It must also be asserted that the biblical teaching about God’s providence in guiding His people to a good end does not eliminate human responsibilities and duties. Fatalism, on the other hand, suggests that no matter what we do, fate will serve us a quite different outcome. So, it implies that our actions are completely futile. Such a notion is totally contrary to the biblical teaching of divine providence in His people’s lives. According to the Scriptural revelations, His providence does not negate our decisions and responsibilities in life. God’s sovereign decrees and outworking include man’s choices and actions. God foreordained our faith and obedience to His truths, expressed in our choices and actions, to accomplish His good purposes. His foreordination also includes the serious repercussions resulting from man’s unbelief and disobedience.

Of course, God’s secret decrees include our every choice and action. There is no need for us to worry about what He has not revealed to us. We also need not be anxious when calamitous situations arise that threaten our plans. Instead, we should rest in His good providence and wait on Him with faith and obedience. He will accomplish all His wonderful plans concerning those who love Him, as well as the great purposes of His kingdom, through His obedient people.

We should never adopt the fatalists’ mentality that our choices and actions are of no importance to God. Regrettably, some people, who embrace the doctrines of God’s sovereign and gracious will, use them illegitimately to justify their laziness and disinterest towards serving His purposes. The Westminster Confession of Faith firmly rejects such an idea. It tells us that God “by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established” (3:1).

God’s foreordination of all things includes us as agents free to act according to our choices. God requires us to choose to serve Him willingly, readily and obediently to bring about His purposes (Mic 6:8). No Christian ought to stand by idly, expecting things to happen on their own. Neither should a Christian cite or be overtaken by fear of possible dangers and calamities (Prov 22:13; 26:13), because God’s purposes are accomplished not without His people’s willingness and obedience. We must always do what is right in His sight, and then wait on His providence to guide us to the ultimate destiny He has planned for us.

Scripture gives us the understanding of God’s sovereign providence for the sake of His glory, and our comfort and strengthening. The biblical knowledge that God governs all things in order to fulfil His perfect plan through us, is most assuring to all His people. There is no greater comfort than remembering and being convinced that God will successfully work out all things for our ultimate good.  Even in difficult and uncertain times, we can recite the great and precious promise of Romans 8:28, deriving comfort from it. John Calvin wrote, “Ignorance of providence is the greatest of all miseries, and the knowledge of it the highest happiness” (Institutes, 1.17.11). When our minds acknowledge God’s sovereign providence as always working for us, we will be filled with confidence and enthusiasm to seek and to do His good pleasure.

Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church adheres to the system of faith commonly known as the “Reformed Faith” as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
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