“Everything happens for a reason.” From Albert Schweitzer to Marilyn Monroe to countless others I’ve never heard of, this fortune-cookie quote is prolific. But does endless repetition make it true?
It’s one of those phrases people reach for when life gets difficult. It’s meant to comfort, to reassure, to tie a neat bow around something painful or confusing.
Sometimes it’s said with the very best intentions. When someone is hurting, we want to offer meaning. We want to believe that somewhere behind life’s chaos is a plan. We want understanding.
But if we’re honest, the phrase can feel a little… thin. Especially when it’s connected to God.
Because when a diagnosis arrives, or a relationship fractures, or a door closes unexpectedly, the heart quietly wonders: Did God really plan this? Is there really a reason?
Scripture gives us a different picture. The Bible never pretends that everything that happens is good or has a purpose. The world is beautiful, yes—but it is also fractured. The world may have been created with reason and purpose, but humanity immediately took everything sideways. We’re really good at that. We have left our marks everywhere on this world, and pretty much done our best to erase much of God’s intentions.
Lent reminds us of this reality in one single image. The cross itself is proof that terrible things can happen. But the cross does reveal something deeper. Because the cross happened for a reason.
Paul writes, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28).
It sounds like Paul is agreeing with our fortune-cookie quote. But notice there’s a difference. Paul doesn’t say that all things are good. Paul doesn’t even say all things happen for a reason or according to a plan. He says that no matter what happens – whether it’s for a reason or completely random – God works in all things.
That’s really a much stronger hope. It means that God doesn’t need perfect circumstances in which to work. God is endlessly creative with broken material. He can weave grace through mistakes, detours, disappointments, and even tragedies.
God shows up in all of our mess. Which is good news, because most of us have supplied him with plenty of material.
So perhaps instead of saying, “Everything happens for a reason,” we might say something closer to the Gospel: God is with us in everything that happens.
God refuses to let anything get in between us and his love for us. Not our failures. Not our fears. Not the difficult seasons we would never have chosen, the things that just happen.
And somehow, over time, grace has a way of gathering those scattered pieces of our lives and shaping them into something that looks suspiciously like redemption.
Prayer: Faithful God, when life feels confusing or painful, help me trust that you are still at work. Give me patience when answers are slow to come. And teach me to believe that your grace is working for good, even what I don’t understand. Amen.
