I realize that not everyone sees life as I do. Probably nobody sees life exactly as I do. We are like snowflakes, and science tells us that no two snowflakes are the same. So I accept the fact that what I write in this column probably doesn’t peel your banana perfectly, and that’s okay. I am me, and you are you.

But I have my opinions, and it is my column, after all, so here goes.

“I don’t like what God does every time. But He is God, so...”

We are the by-product of Someone’s beyond-belief imagination. God, that Supreme Someone, created each of us with a purpose in mind. And to somehow believe the opposite, that every human who has ever lived on this earth was just a random happening? No, that thought boggles my mind.

The following is how I believe it all works. We are each a teensy tiny little piece that fits into a humongous, extraordinary puzzle called Life. This puzzle has been in the works ever since our Creator caused human life to begin. And He is putting it together very carefully with purpose and forethought, over an enormous span of time.

Now, let’s talk about one specific tiny little puzzle piece called you. Over the years, God is using the people and things in your life to shape that tiny little puzzle piece just the way He wants it to be. Yes, even that grouchy neighbor on your left has a definite purpose in your life. Just as every joy, every heartache, and every scary event has also left their change in you. Everything serves a perfect purpose.

About now you’re probably disgustedly thinking, “Oh, c’mon, lousy things that have happened to me have no good purpose.” But they do. They’re meant to shape and change you into a better person, day by day. Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it? It seems impossibly naive to insist that God uses every horrible thing in your life for your ultimate good, and that those events fit into the plan He has for you. Notice I didn’t say ‘those horrible things are for your ultimate enjoyment and peace every day.’ That’s garbage and we all know it. Life hurts way too much for any idiot to say that. But the bad stuff does have purpose. For example; how best for you to learn sympathy and empathy for people who hurt, than to experience pain yourself?

Life can feel horrible, I admit. That is why the hated phrase ‘it is all for our good’ seems so stupid and cruel to us. And why we don’t agree with Him many times. But the Bible states that God’s understanding is so much higher than ours.

But one thing about it all, folks, He never forces us to agree with His ways. He allows us to get depressed, and to even get angry and rebellious with Him. And all the while, He continues trying to do what only He can do…shaping us into His image.

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