Thing Happen for a Reason: My Stance

Voice of reason, not excuses in order.

Smoking Volcano

While I certainly do not believe in fate or destiny, I do believe everything happens for some reason. By that, I do not mean that God causes things to happen to us. But due to man's imperfection, greed, or hunger for power and control, we all make bad choices as well as good.

What many don't seem to take into consideration is, that our choices are not the only thing that brings about good or bad things that may happen to us or our loved ones and/or neighbors.

With more than seven billion inhabitants on earth, and with everyone making their own choices, most of the time, those choices affect at least people around us. On the world stage, with imperfect men and women running the finances, products we all use, and trying to manage or force their ideas on other inhabitants of this planet, these actions affect everyone, in one way or another.

With world leaders and people of power in many other situations checking their horoscopes, and mediums in search of so called wisdom, instead of listening to God's word, they are actually inviting Satan, who the Bible calls the "ruler of the authority of the air," to influence their actions and decisions.

While many who claim to believe in the God of the Bible, they completely ignore his warnings against having any connection to these things. Leviticus 19:31 says: "Do not turn yourselves to the spirit mediums, and do not consult professional foretellers of events, so as to become unclean by them. I am Jehovah (Yahweh, YHWH) your God."

Exodus 20:4, 5 states: "You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah (Yahweh, YHWH) your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion,"

Examples:

1- If one drives speedily down a road, it instantly will determine many things in the lives of others around them.  Whether they react to their benefit or accidentally lose control of their vehicle, and may die or even kill others as a result is all still a matter of choices they made.

No one can blame God for their own actions.  Remember?  Freedom of choice?

Lava Flow

2- If a volcano erupts and wipes out a village or town, can one say that was destined to occur.   No, prior to eruptions, volcanoes give ample warning, whether by quaking, or spewing smoke and ash, or flowing lava. If people fail to heed the warnings, why on earth would a reasonable person blame God, when it was their choice to ride it out, or ignore the warnings? The same goes for hurricanes. Even tsunamis give warning, and if people are ignorant about these signs or warning sirens, or news alerts, they certainly have no one to blame for not getting farther inland. After all, even 'dumb' animals will do everything they can to get away from the danger zone.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 states: "... time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all."

Earthquake prone areas seem to be where people choose to live in high-rise buildings, in very congested cities, and when the buildings man has built collapse, perhaps killing and maiming many people, they call it an "act of God?" Most times, single story homes and buildings are much safer than tall buildings, and God certainly doesn't force anyone to live in any particular place, does he?

3- Devastating illnesses happen to good and bad alike, but many times we sabotage our own immune systems by eating or drinking things that are not in our own best interest.

GMO Corn

For example, take soft drinks, sweets, and many other things that contain such things as high fructose corn syrup. Since genetically modified corn and soy have been forced on an unsuspecting public food supply, the rate of diabetes and obesity have risen exponentially in many countries where these products are sold.  These products are even promoted by governments as well as the producers of our food. Did God make those GMO plants? Certainly not, man manipulated the genes that make the plants immune to such things as weed killers, which are still in the plant and its produce. We are not only consuming weed killers but also the extra pesticides which the genetic modifications induce the plants to manufacture to discourage insects.

High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Remember that plants were created naturally to produce small quantities of pyrethrins to discourage insects, which was harmless to humans and mammals. But when man dabbled into a perfect system, as usual, it all blew up in his face.

Crops which are grown on naturally fertile soil are healthier and more naturally resistant to pests and plant diseases. But when malnourished, plants react much like malnourished people or animals, getting sick and passing along weakened genes on to it's offspring as well.

4- The Devil made me do it?  Certainly not, but he can and does influence people, and tries to keep them from paying attention to the truth of the Bible.  He even tried to convince Jesus Christ to do something that was not approved by his Father.  Thankfully, Jesus did not succumb to Satan's attempts at misleading as did Adam and Eve.

Still, even if Satan invades our thoughts and encourages you to do things that are counter to God's laws and advice, we still made the choices to do the things we do.   We still have freedom of choice, so do good or to do bad, it was still we who chose that course, and we and others around us will either benefit of pay the price for our actions.