When something bad happens, it’s common for people to offer the encouragement that “everything happens for a reason.” Is it really true, however, that everything that happens, happens for a reason? To answer that question we need to explore what we mean by “everything,” “for” and “reason.”
Let’s start with “reason.” What do we mean when we say something happens for a reason? It means there is some intelligible and discernible relationship between two events, and that this relationship was purposed by an intelligent agent. For example, the reason I give money to the checker at the grocery store is because I want to buy food. There is a rationality to my action that links the events of giving money and receiving food. One is done for the reason of the other. In a similar manner, there is a discernible and intelligible relationship between bad and good events in our lives that was purposed by God.
Thinking to Believe 