Do you think everything in life happens for a reason and is the way God designed things to happen? Or is it all by coincidence?<\/p>\n\t
Neither. God has a design and purpose which He carries out in the world. “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will<\/em>” (Ephesians 1:11). God manipulates everything that happens toward the accomplishment of His purpose. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it<\/em>” (Isaiah 46:10-11).<\/p>\n But this does not rule out that some things happen which have no impact on God’s ultimate goals. Thus God may not decide what needs to happen but allows things to happen as they may. “I returned and saw under the sun that – the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Thus we learn that some events occur by simple random chance.<\/p>\n “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose<\/em>” (Romans 8:28). What kind of things does Paul have in mind? “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?<\/em>” (Romans 8:35). Therefore, God can take even the evil things that may come upon His children and manipulate them such that ultimately it works in favor of His people. It doesn’t mean God’s people never suffers. Quite the opposite actually. But we know that the suffering is temporary and will ultimately lead to something better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Do you think everything in life happens for a reason and is the way God designed things to happen? Or is it all by coincidence? Answer: Neither. God has a design and purpose which He carries out in the world. “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[562],"class_list":["post-9635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-predestination"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66377,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-everything-happen-for-a-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":0},"title":"Does Everything Happen for a Reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by R. J. Evans Based upon how often we hear the expression \"everything happens for a reason,\" you would think the answer would be a definite \"yes.\" Some time back, while watching a professional football player on TV being interviewed and commenting on his team's loss, he remarked: \"I know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-gods-will-for-me-limited-to-specific-things-or-all-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":1},"title":"Is God’s will for me limited to specific things or all my life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is God's will for me limited on specific things (with examples)\u00a0or on all my life? Can I change God's will by my actions? Answer: \"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25787,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-it-good-when-your-wife-commits-adultery\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":2},"title":"How is it good when your wife commits adultery?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Romans 8:28 says everything works for good. If you were in a marriage relationship, where you did everything you possibly could for your spouse, where you sacrificed a lot for them, then they cheated on you with the possibility of leaving you with some STIs, How is that good?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-jesus-knew-judas-would-betray-him-why-did-jesus-have-him-around\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":3},"title":"If Jesus knew Judas would betray him, why did Jesus have him around?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If Jesus knew Judas would betray him, why did Jesus entertain Judas until that time? Answer: Paul addressed a similar question, though he looked back at a far older event. When it was time for the Israelites to be freed from bondage, people wondered why did God put such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-god-sending-me-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":4},"title":"Is God sending me signs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God send us signs? I have known this guy well for five years. He and I just clicked so well, and when we are together everything is so easy. However, he lives in a different state, though he still comes back to visit me and his family. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-actions-of-men-change-gods-sovereign-will\/","url_meta":{"origin":9635,"position":5},"title":"How can the actions of men change God’s sovereign will?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, First, thank you for your work in answering questions. Your diligence in doing so is admirable because it provides a great service to those either seeking God or those encountering difficulties in their walk with God. I've recently been reading and studying about God's will, specifically God's sovereign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}