i disagree

"everything happens for a reason"

"it's all part of God's plan"

no. no. no. can i just tell you? no.

these are statements i have struggled with for most of my adult life...which i suppose is much shorter than i realize sometimes, but that's not the point. what about the mother who just miscarried her baby? the girl who was just trafficked for the second time? the husband who's wife suddenly died, leaving him to care for their children on his own? the village ripped apart by a natural disaster or crushed by an evil dictator?

some things happen for no reason. they are sad. and senseless. and definitely not part of God's plan. we won't...no, we can't understand them, they just are. they are not fair things or happy things and it's okay for me to say that out loud. but then what? while i don't believe it's God's plan for horrible things to happen to us because God wants to teach us a lesson, i believe that in His sovereign and redemptive mercy, He makes a way for things to be less horrible than they could have been. it is true that He knows everything that will happen in my life. from my past to my future, it has been written. but because He is the author, He gets to make edits and changes and surprises along the way. He can walk with me through a difficult season, teaching me and giving me tools along the way that will be of great help the next time a difficulty comes. He will redeem it all and He will make all things, even the sad, horrible, tragic things work together for my good. He didn't cause them, but He can fix them. i believe Him. i trust Him. i trust His heart. and He will come...in fact, He already has.