Here’s an excerpt from God’s Providence Revealed in Scripture, Robert Rothwell’s contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:
Have you ever heard a non-Christian say, “Everything happens for a reason”? I have, and probably more times than I can count. I’m not sure what to think when I hear it. On the one hand, I’m glad when a non-Christian expresses doubts that purposeless things happen. After all, one can quickly move from belief that some things have no purpose, to belief that life has no purpose, to sheer nihilism that bears fruit in suicide or sociopathic behavior. On the other hand, I know that when most non-Christians confess that everything happens for a reason, they do not have the right reason in mind. Usually they are just admitting belief that blind, impersonal fate controls everything. But of course, how can blind, impersonal fate have a reason for everything? Purpose comes only from personal agents who make a plan and follow it. If everything happens for a reason, something—or rather, Someone—must decide the reason for it.
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