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WARNING: Toddler Suffers 2nd-Degree Burns After Mom Fills Kiddie Pool Up With Garden Hose

“We got a ton of tweets back from people saying ‘I never thought about that,’ and that’s why we do it.”

School Forces Student to Take Jesus Out of Graduation Speech, Plan Gloriously Backfires When She Drops This Line

“I’ve always been a rule follower. When they said not to chew gum, I didn’t chew gum. When they said not to use your cellphone, I didn’t use my cellphone. But today, in the spirit of defying expectations, and for perhaps the last time at this podium, I say..."

“The Spirit Led Me to Pray for Her”: Woman Snaps Powerful Pic of Chick-fil-A Worker Praying Over Customer

“I work at a place where if I’m led to pray for someone, I’m able to do that and I’ll do it right on the spot. People need prayer, encouragement, and love. That’s what we try to do here.”

Dear Christians, Stop Saying “Everything Happens for a Reason”

Have you ever found yourself, in the midst of unimaginable grief, pain, heartache or despair, wondering how you are going to make it through another day? Wondering where your next breath is going to come from? Your world has crumbled beneath you and you are left feeling shattered, empty and hopeless. And then a well meaning friend or family member comes along and drops the infamous “ Everything happens for a reason ” bomb. You smile kindly and nod—that’s all you can do to keep yourself from punching them in the face.

You can’t possibly imagine a reason for what just happened. 

The more you stew about a possible reason for your pain and the phrase everything happens for a reason, the angrier you become. You try desperately to make sense of a situation that won’t ever make sense. You reach for answers but none come.

I spent years searching for answers, trying to find reasons that would bring an end to my pain. I thought that if I could find the cause, I could treat the condition. But what I found through years of searching, experiencing and living is that often there is no reason for why tragedy has occurred.

Sometimes bad things happen for no reason other than we are human beings having a human experience. Pain, heartache, grief, loss, disease and death are inevitable parts of the human experience. 

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We hear people say “Life dealt me a crappy hand” as if pain and hardships are not the norm. We assume that life is supposed to be easy and when things don’t go our way, we feel like we have been wronged. Human beings seem to have an innate sense of entitlement. We think that we are owed a pain-free existence.

But the truth is that human beings are not exempt from the human experience. And struggle is an innate part of the human experience. None of us are exceptions to this rule. We all struggle. We all suffer. We all experience pain, heartache and loss. And sometimes, there’s just no reason other than we are human and pain is a part of the process.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who was struggling to find peace with “God’s plan” for her life including the recent death of a loved one.

“How could this possibly be God’s will?” she asked.

Here’s what I’ve come to know about God’s will:

quotes-Gods-will-is-not-the-path-we-walk

God’s plan is never for someone to have cancer. God’s will is not for an innocent child to be brutally murdered. God’s will is not for a teenage girl to be raped. God’s will is not chronic pain, illness, disability or death.

God’s will is not an event that happens to us, it’s how we respond to what happens. 

God’s will for us is to walk with Him through the cancer. Through the abuse. Through the death. Through the illness. God’s will is for us to draw close to him in the midst of pain. God’s will is for us to use our painful life events to carry his message of hope, grace, forgiveness and mercy. 

Christine Suhan
Christine Suhanhttp://www.feelingsandfaith.net/
Christine Suhan is a wife, stay at home mother to three wild toddler boys and writer/creator at www.feelingsandfaith.net. She has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and enjoys helping people through openly and honestly sharing her journey of life, recovery, mental illness, marriage, parenting and more. You can also find her on her Facebook page.

WARNING: Toddler Suffers 2nd-Degree Burns After Mom Fills Kiddie Pool Up With Garden Hose

“We got a ton of tweets back from people saying ‘I never thought about that,’ and that’s why we do it.”

School Forces Student to Take Jesus Out of Graduation Speech, Plan Gloriously Backfires When She Drops This Line

“I’ve always been a rule follower. When they said not to chew gum, I didn’t chew gum. When they said not to use your cellphone, I didn’t use my cellphone. But today, in the spirit of defying expectations, and for perhaps the last time at this podium, I say..."

“The Spirit Led Me to Pray for Her”: Woman Snaps Powerful Pic of Chick-fil-A Worker Praying Over Customer

“I work at a place where if I’m led to pray for someone, I’m able to do that and I’ll do it right on the spot. People need prayer, encouragement, and love. That’s what we try to do here.”