Purpose and Reason by Bill Crofton

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

One of my favorite movies is “A River Runs Through It,” based upon a novel by the same title.  The movie tells the story of the Maclean family, who lived in Montana early in the twentieth century.  The father of the family was a Presbyterian minister—stern but loving.  His wife was supportive and nurturing.  They had two sons:  the oldest, first-born Norman, who tells the story, and a younger son, Paul.  These are the characters in the novel, but the real protagonist in the story is the river that runs through their part of Montana.  That river becomes the focal point of their family and the catalyst for everything significant that takes place in their individual lives. The Maclean family knew failure and success and laughter and fighting and change and disappointment, but always the river was there.  It was the defining force and the spiritual center of that family.  I thought a lot about that movie last week-end.

Sometimes when bad things happen, we say things like, “Well, God has his reasons,” or “There’s a reason for everything,” or “Everything works out for the best.”  We mean well when we say things like that.  We’re doing the best to make sense out of what has happened, to justify it so that we can live with it all.  But a reason for everything?  I’m not so sure about that.  A reason implies a simple cause-and-effect relationship, an underlying motive that makes logical sense out of everything that happens.  Reason looks to justify every event as good and worthwhile and meaningful and significant.  “Things don’t just happen,” we say.  “They’re done for a reason.”  Really?

Tell me, who is responsible for cancer, for an insidious disease that destroys our bodies and snatches away loved ones before their time?  Who’s responsible for that?  Satan, the destroyer?  Is he the one?  Or is it we, who have polluted our own environment and failed to care for our own bodies and souls?  Or is it God because he is sovereign over everything?  Who’s responsible?  It’s not so easy.  What is the logical explanation for a stray bullet that finds its way into the chest of a toddler sitting in a stroller or a car that jumps a curb, or a disgruntled employee who shoots up an office?  What’s the justifiable motive for mass starvation, or for child abuse, or for annihilation of a people over racial hatred?

A REASON for everything?  Again, I’m not so sure.

I’m afraid it’s not as simple as every effect being traced to its logical cause.  There are too many forces loose in this universe, too many factors colliding with calamitous results.

First of all, there is Satan on the loose.  The hymn writer says, “His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.”  He and his minions are out to steal, and kill, and destroy.  Short of that, they will deceive, and discourage, and divide.  Satan is at work.

Then there is this fallen world in which we live, a spoiled universe where forces of nature sometimes run amuck.  Rivers overflow their banks, and the earth quakes and shakes.  The heavens dry up, and the earth produces no food.  Cars crash, and planes fall from the sky.

And this world is inhabited by sinful people, people like you and me, whose hearts are prone to greed, to hate, and to vengeance and violence.

A fallen world inhabited by sinful people with a maligned power at work.

And of course, God is there too, and He knows and sees all things.  But with such a complex interplay of forces and factors, who is to say who is responsible for what, or what the justifiable reason is for some particular event?  It’s just not that simple.  A reason for everything?  I’m not so sure.

But this I know and believe.  A PURPOSE runs through it—the eternal purpose of God to restore this universe to its intended splendor and to enable men and women to become the eternal beautiful beings we were created to be.  When bad things happen that just don’t make sense, I prefer to talk about purpose rather than reason.

Reason looks at the isolated event; purpose looks to the big picture.  Reason is fixated on the present; purpose looks down the road to future outcomes.  Reason insists on an explanation; purpose says let’s get on with it.  Reason hangs onto the event; purpose hangs onto God, who is at work in it all.

Remember, Romans 8:28 is about purpose, not reasons.  Romans 8:28 does not say everything that happens is good.  It doesn’t even say that all things work together for good.  No, it says that God works in all things, good and bad, to accomplish His purpose.  He works.  As the Montana river was for the Macleans, God is the defining force and the spiritual center of the human family.  Hold onto that.

Bill Crofton