Everything happens for a reason.

It’s a common expression that people use to explain the unexplainable – at least in human terms. The implication is that there is some higher power that has an agenda. The irony is that the person using this expression is typically a non-believer. There is no belief system attached to this expression and no logic. It is merely a throwaway response to an unfortunate and unexplainable event.

If pressed, this person would assign the blame to that mystical force that most of us would identify as “God,” – but purely as a matter of convenience, because he has no logical explanation.

This is one time when logic and faith are equally incapable of a credible response. While believers might cling to the concept that God has a purpose linked to every event, even the slightest application of logic weakens that argument. The Bible itself provides evidence that God does not manipulate and orchestrate all human behavior. From the first example of Eve, defying God’s directives, to the masses rebelling and leading to the flood of Noah’s task, it is apparent that God has given his creation free will.

On the logic side of the question is the improbable concept that God is juggling the lives of millions of human beings at every moment. That, of course, is based on the human grasp of numbers. As human beings, we are incapable of believing that the entity we call God, could possibly manage the infinite number of actions and moments of all of humanity. It’s just too much.

Or is it?

We might be able to accept the idea of God coordinating events if we revise the saying to read – some things happen for a reason. On that basis, we can see the possibility that God could allow us our free will lifestyle, while reserving that special moment or event to fulfill His ultimate purpose for each of us.

There have been numerous reports of people who have experienced what is called an NDE – near-death experience. A frequent element of these accounts is the report of those having such an experience that they were informed that they needed to return to life because they had not yet fulfilled their purpose on earth.

Now, it begins to make sense.

Perhaps there are moments in each of our lives when we need a certain experience as part of our maturing as a spiritual beings. Perhaps there are moments in our free-will lifestyle when we are on the verge of encountering a dangerous act that would jeopardize our ability to achieve our purpose on earth.

Perhaps some things do happen for a reason, but the reason is beyond our ability to comprehend. Perhaps some things happen because God allows us our free will and we create those happenings by our own actions.

And perhaps that is part of His plan.