Does everything in our lives happen for a reason?

someone else brought this thought to my attention:

everything that has ever happened has put you in the place you are now and that's not exlcusive. If Rome hadn't fallen, you wouldn't be where you are now. If your friend's parents hadn't of met, you wouldn't have the people in y our life that you have now. basicly, all of history has produced you and all that is around you and all that you do is going to produce another very specific future.

Reason is a hard word to define. you can look at it as if God has ordained everything that has happened and has his own motives for them, or you can view it as a pattern of cause and effect.

either way, I think, yes everything happens for a reason. it's not chaotic.

Yes. As hard as it is to understand sometimes and as difficult as it is to live with some of the things that happen I believe there is a reason for everything. It just takes us a while sometimes to figure out what it is.

Not really. If you are implying that God is a god of destiny, that is not taught in the Bible. Please note:

(Isaiah 65:11) “11 “But YOU men are those leaving Jehovah, those forgetting my holy mountain, those setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck and those filling up mixed wine for the god of Destiny.”*

*Footnote:

Or, “for the god of Fate.” Heb., lam·ni′; Gr., tei ty′khei.

Also this thought is made clear through scripture:

(Ecclesiastes 9:11) “11 I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.”

Similar to Aesop's fables,(Tortoise & the Hare) but the above is clearly taught in the Bible.

This does not mean that we cannot benefit from what we experience in life , indeed we can and also have help from above--not in the form of good luck, God is not a gambler.

Absolutely. When you start paying attention and expanding your awareness, you will begin to notice more and more how events previously thought coincidental are rarely mere coincidences. You are meant to have a certain experience or meet a certain person, etc., etc. You can intervene and prevent certain events from taking place through your freedom of choice, but sometimes it is decided for you to have that experience, the reason of which is for you to figure out. The greater sensitivity you develop, the closer you come to "the sixth sense", so to speak. We are born with our eyes closed, and from birth onwards, our eyes are opened and the journey begins for each of us to discover the meaning for all that is to befall us. This ever-developing awareness brings us closer to reaching beyond the confines of our physical reality into far greater realms from which we realize we have sprang from and all life is an exercise in returning to that Source. Hints about this have been discovered by others. Stop, look and listen and you'll find out more if you want to! It's really for each one of us to determine the reason for everything that occurs to us in our lifetimes. Do we not feel changed when we have various experiences? And if you are a thinking person, you will benefit from the opportunity, even from a so-called "bad" experience. The reason: to teach us all about life through direct experience. What would you ever learn if you experienced nothing? How would you discover anything unless you actually went through something? You need to be put into a situation to extract knowledge. We were given abilities and intelligence to be put into action that we can turn into personal rewards the smarter we become as we learn in this "school of life".

No. Yes.

You get to choose. I believe that things happen randomly all the time. Is there a reason that a child gets struck by lightning?

Parents can choose to draw meaning from that incident or not.

Maybe the incident draws family closer together and they can find solace in knowing that there was something good that came of the incident. Or not.

Peace

Yes indeed. The reasons might be as mundane or as profound as they come, but still things happen for a reason. We might not probably care about the reason or even try to search for the reason or disagree with the proposed reason but still they are there.

Yes

Personally I think so but from a psychological standpoint it makes sense as well because if we believe in it then a lot of our anxieties will be eradicated in our life. Sometimes it seems counter productive to find the seasons behind everything that takes place but if w believe in some Divine intervention then it helps us accept things as they may come.

I dont believe so. Because as Human beings its easier for us to believe that things happen for a reason. But truthfully what happens happens--you will always have more than one choice in your life, and whatever one you choose--it will always have a reason to you!

Yes.