Perhaps it’s just the nature of the human spirit to search for meaning – trying to make sense of the things that happen to us. And to some degree such meaning can be found. But this meaning might not always make rational sense. Some things just are, and meaning is discovered in how it transforms our very souls.
For instance, when tragedy strikes we naturally try to make sense of it. This helps us to put the pieces of our life back together and move forward. But a clear explanation will not come with every tragedy. Some people are diligent in maintaining their physical health and still get sick. Others might be the model employee and still lose their job. And even the most prepared can still suffer at the hands of a natural disaster, car accident, or the like.
To be sure, many bad things happen in this life with no logical or satisfying reason. Some things just are. Of course, this is not intended to be mere passive acceptance. Nor is it to suggest there’s no value in trying to figure things out. By all means, we should correct and make situations better whenever we can.
But we frustrate ourselves, and risk just spinning our wheels when we demand everything to make perfect and logical sense to us. And, to be fair, this is often motivated by our anxiety and need for control. If we can just understand then maybe we can prevent more bad things from happening.
Learning to accept reality on its own terms even when it doesn’t make sense frees us to consider how God might be using this situation to transform us all the same. And in this way everything has meaning even though we still have many questions without answers.
In the end, some things in life just are and you don’t have to frustrate yourself trying to make logical sense of it all. But even when it doesn’t make sense, trust God is still at work transforming you for good.
Photo by Sweet Life on Unsplash
