To speak of things happening for a purpose or a good reason presupposes such things as rationality and personality. But an immaterial world cannot provide that. Stuff just happens, and we have to accept it. Speaking of purpose or meaning is foolish in the atheistic worldview. But don’t take my word for it – listen to what the atheists are saying. 

There are various versions of what is found in my title. Other formulations would include ‘Nothing happens in life without a reason’. And if something does not take place, a related saying is: ‘It wasn’t meant to be’. We hear these things being said quite often.
Where exactly such sayings first originated is unclear, but they are rather common, especially among non-Christians, although believers can say things like this as well. And those who are into things like the New Age Movement can also toss out these rather trite sayings on a regular basis.
Here I want to look at these sayings in a bit more detail. Mainly I want to look at whether these things make any sense for those with a secular, materialistic, or atheistic point of view. If we all exist without any ultimate purpose or meaning, then to speak about things like reasons or what is meant to be is all rather out of place.
Indeed, to speak of things happening for a purpose or a good reason presupposes such things as rationality and personality. But an immaterial world cannot provide that. Stuff just happens, and we have to accept it. Speaking of purpose or meaning is foolish in the atheistic worldview.
But don’t take my word for it – listen to what the atheists are saying. They constantly make it clear that in their worldview there is no such thing as purpose and meaning. A few representative quotes will suffice here.
“When we reject belief in God we must give up the idea that life on this planet has some preordained meaning. Life as a whole has no meaning.” Peter Singer
“We are children of chaos, and the deep structure of change is decay. At root, there is only corruption, and the unstemmable tide of chaos. Gone is purpose; all that is left is direction. This is the bleakness we have to accept as we peer deeply and dispassionately into the heart of the Universe.” Peter Atkins
“Darwin enabled modern secular culture to heave a great collective sigh of relief, by apparently providing a way to eliminate purpose, meaning and design as fundamental features of the world.” Thomas Nagel
“We may yearn for a ‘higher answer’ – but none exists. . . . We cannot read the meaning of life passively in the facts of nature. We must construct these answers for ourselves – from our own wisdom and ethical sense. There is no other way.” Stephen Jay Gould
When Dawkins was asked about the purpose of life he replied, “Well, there is no purpose, and to ask what it is is a silly question. It has the same status as ‘What is the colour of jealousy’.” Richard Dawkins
“Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear . . . . There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either.” William Provine
“Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hope and fears, his loves and beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruin – all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy that rejects them can hope to stand.”
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When Isaiah was rocked and shaken by his complete unworthiness, he finally broke down and repented. Full surrender is the only way to recapture the power of the Spirit. Like Isaiah, we’ve been bought with a price, and we must surrender to our King’s will.

A desire to truly experience God runs deep within our veins. However, for most Christians, experiencing God is either elusive and frightening or impossible and improbable. But to the thirsty pilgrim, God’s presence is a wellspring of life. Do we fight for it, or let it fade away? Do we contend for a deeper walk with God, or complain about our life? Do we pursue God like never before, or postpone intimacy?
Psalm 85:6 is the prayer that unlocks the power: “Oh God, we are desperate for more of you. Will you revive us again so that we can rejoice and experience your power and presence in our lives” (paraphrase).
Filling an Empty Vessel
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.” The filling of the Spirit is God’s work, but we must submit by emptying our vessel. There can be many subsequent fillings of the Spirit (cf. Acts 4:8 and Acts 13:9). However, you can’t fill something that is already full — full of self. We must repent of pride and renounce arrogance.
Isaiah 6 offers an incredible glimpse into this dynamic power and the possibility of truly experiencing God.
Isaiah describes the day that his wonderful experience took place. It was in the year that King Uzziah died. He would never forget that day, and you too will never forget the day when God radically fills you with His Spirit, or when you return to Him and experience the joy of your salvation again. It’s a true spiritual explosion.
Holy Ground Shakes
Isaiah said that he “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (6:1). What a wonderful picture of His majesty and His power. The size of the train on a robe would often match the authority of the king. God’s train filled the entire temple. What an awesome sight to behold! No better words could have been chosen — God Almighty rules and reigns.
Isaiah also saw amazing six-winged creatures known as seraphim. Their cry should be our cry as well when we truly experience God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
It’s not by chance that moral purity encompasses the rhythm of their soul. Of all the attributes of God, holiness is mentioned more frequently than the others. Even the posts of the door of the temple responded to the cry of holiness. So powerful was the declaration that the entire entrance was shaken by the voices who cried, “Holy, holy, holy.” Let those words sink in!
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What’s outside of our power is someone’s internal dispositions. So, at one level, taking the emotional burden of changing someone else can only lead to worry or anxiety, because we cannot control the result. 

Am I responsible for changing others? Like a friend or someone you know?
I think we are responsible to do our best, but we cannot make someone change. So feeling responsible for someone’s change of disposition is outside of our power.
As I understand it, some things are within our power; some things are not. The future is outside of our power (don’t worry about tomorrow…). The present is in our power (whatever you do, do with all your might…).
What’s outside of our power is someone’s internal dispositions. So, at one level, taking the emotional burden of changing someone else can only lead to worry or anxiety, because we cannot control the result.
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