THE CRITIQUE CIRCLE
BACK TO
CRITIQUE CIRCLE
INSTRUCTIONS
COMPLETE
INSTRUCTIONS HERE
CRITIQUE GUIDELINES
CRITIQUE TIPS
HELP TOUR
1) You start with one credit so post your first piece of 1,000 words or less.

2) Receive critiques over a few weeks.

3) Read guidelines and critique another writer and earn 1 credit to post another 1,000 word or less piece.


4) Build up credits now by giving more critiques to be used at another time.
YOUR CREDITS
LOGIN HERE


ATTENTION:
Effective 8-27-15 submissions are now limited to 1,000 words or less and to a maximum of four submissions per month per member. See message to left for information.

TITLE: Hardly A Happenstance!
By Missey Butler
06/20/05
  SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
 SEND ARTICLE TO A FRIEND
Hardly a Happenstance!
By Missey Butler

Everything happens for a reason. Ugh! Don’t you get tired of hearing that rather worn out one liner that most people say with a slight “know it all” tone in their voice. I’ve heard that pat answer most of my adult life and yet I still struggle with the validity of its’ meaning. One thing I have noticed is that life sure seems alot easier if you happen to be looking through the rose colored glasses of an “everything happens for a reason” point of view.

I realize that alot of eyebrows are probably beginning to arch about now, and that’s ok. That just means the ole’ wheels of thought are turning. This whole pretestination, excepting the inevitable “theology thing” makes my head swim as well. All I know is that the unshakable truth of God having everything under control, is kind of like breaking in a brand new pair of snug fitting leather shoes, you have to wear them for a while before they become comfortable.

My own journey of understanding began to take shape as I mulled over one particular passage that happens to be an absolute favorite of mine whenever I challenged myself in the area of memorized scripture.

Paul writes in Romans chapter 8 verse 28: “For all things work together for good, to those who are called according to His purposes.”

It never seems to fail how one little token word can carry the weightiness of meaning within the context of a sentence. Notice the little word “all.” For all things work together. Notice now what it does not say! It does not say, “For some things work together, or “For a few things work together, no, it says: “For all things work together for good.”

Now comes the conditional part. Who is this promise for? To those who are called according to His promise. Are we all called? Yes indeedy! Do we all answer the call? As the well known redhead Lucy from the beloved comedy “I love Lucy” used to say: (with a slight wine in her voice)…“Well?”

My hope in writing these words is that we will all consider which side of Romans 8:28 we stand on. I don’t know about you, but I kind of like the idea of “all” things working together for my good, how about you? Especially when it comes to the “I must eat all the spinach on my plate” part of my life, and then trusting God with the outcome.

Even Joseph experienced this whole “bad to good” dilemma himself. At the end of his own rags to riches journey, he was able to look at his brothers and tenderly say: "Though it was meant for evil, my God used it for good."

Today would probably be a good day to make sure our lives are no longer subject to the “fall of the dice” category of HAPPENSTANCE… but rather come under the heading of the wonderful grace and blessing of GODLYSTANCE!
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.