Cliche Sayings for a "Not So Cliche" Time..."Everything Happens for a Reason"

by Kendra Rueckert

Still unemployed and still hearing the clichés. At this point I’m not sure when they will stop. Many times, they seem to be spewed out like reflexes. Funny thing is, I find myself dishing the same cliché sayings to others too. In exploring these phrases I do hope to shed some deeper truth to them. One of my personal favorites is the “everything happens for a reason” line. Initially with this line I want to respond with a sarcastic, “And what reason is that”. Instead I bite my tongue. But now I’d like to dissect this line and explore how it could be a good thing to hear after all.

This particular cliché can be divided into two parts. First is the “everything happens”. This is referring your circumstances be the present or past. Or in question form it could be labeled as the “what has happened” part of the phrase. The second half of the line “for a reason” refers to your connections between the circumstances or the “why did this happen”. In referring to unemployment one could state, “I lost my job/can’t find a job (everything happens) because of the economy (for a reason).”

I could stop here and let this age old cliché be a comfort merely on the surface, but the fact is that we can continue to draw deeper meaning from it. The big picture in “everything happens for a reason” is that we can rest in the now knowing its building to something later. This doesn’t translate to giving up or sitting back and letting everything go, but rather pursuing an attitude of a patient expectation. The expectation is knowing that God has his reasons and his timing. We can patiently expect this because his reasons and timing are perfect.

Isaiah reminds us about our God and his character as he writes, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV) As much as we may try to understand or even manipulate the circumstances and connections in our lives, the fact remains that we must surrender and let God be God…he’s good at it.

Need proof to God’s goodness? Look back at creation. There was nothing and then BOOM the world and everything in it appeared. Sin enters the world but God’s plan immediately took effect and entered in Jesus, his son, who came to earth to be with and among us. Then Jesus’ death for and because of us, finally achieving victory in His defeat over death and the devil.

Enter us: proof of God’s existence, proof of God’s goodness. We’ve still got our lives to live even if the everything that happens seems to happen for reasons we don’t understand. Most of the time I feel left in the dark when I try to connect reasons to what has happened. I struggle waiting in “patient expectation” I wish I knew. I wish I had control. But think about it…how nice it is to have someone on my side who has it together far more than we ever could? Through his spirit we are given the strength to wait, the strength to expect, the strength to let go.

This same God gives us a reason to live and puts reason to “everything that happens”. In Romans, Paul (remember that tortured soul? ) leaves us with some words of encouragement, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV) Again, God’s got reasons that we may or may not know, but isn’t it a comfort to know the Almighty, powerful creator of the universe has us on his mind?

So for all of you unemployed or those who comfort the unemployed remember, let God be God. Let God have his reasons and expect that everything does happen for a reason.