What do you think when people say “everything happens for a reason” or “things happen as they should”? Is this true? It seems to me not, because then we wouldn’t have free will. Then again, it’s a comforting thought to believe this and that everything happens according to God’s will. Can anyone help me sort this out? Thanks!
They are two different questions.
Yes, everything happens for a reason. If you got drunk and drove a car and crashed and killed a bunch of people, the reason for the crash would be your drinking.
Things happen as they should implies that a reaction has transpired without any reason for it.
I don’t believe everything happens according to God’s will, because that would mean that sin and the awful stuff people pull is God’s will. Say a woman having an abortion, God doesn’t will that abortion! God, however, will use that woman’s awful situation for His own end.
For example, the woman aborts and ends up horribly depressed, she finds her way into counselling and finds God through that counselling. Her soul is thus saved and she is forgiven her abortion. However, say she had not had the abortion, she may have met someone at her child’s pre-school that would have brought her to God.
God uses our circumstances for His glory and for His plan. We can go along with His will and our lives will be easier, at least spiritutally if we do so, or we can cause ourselves a great deal of pain along the way by ignoring His commands - such as the woman who aborts.
