But our attempts to defeat them make clear that we believe they are an evil that must be stopped, not some part of GodвЂ™s sovereign plan that must be allowed to continue unabated. If everything happens for a reason then we must assume that God raised up ISIS to accomplish some purpose. The biblical story is in many ways the story of humanity misusing our freedom, turning away from God, practicing the very things God has told us not to do, and then GodвЂ™s working to redeem, restore and heal the mess weвЂ™ve made of things.Д¬onsider ISIS. While God is ultimately sovereign, the opening story of the Bible shows that God has given human beings вЂњdominionвЂќ here on earth вЂ“ that is, we have the capacity to make decisions, a freedom we value and, as Americans, have been willing to fight and die for. HereвЂ™s a bit of the argument I make there: In Half Truths, I devote a chapter to unpacking whatвЂ™s untrue about this particular half-truth. Similar statements include, вЂњIt must have been the will of God,вЂќ or, вЂњItвЂ™s all part of the plan,вЂќ or at the death of an individual we might seek to console another by saying, вЂњIt must have been their time.вЂќ When something bad has happened and weвЂ™re trying to help someone through a difficult time, we say it, or something like it. Most often, weвЂ™re speaking in response to suffering. Usually, however, when we say, вЂњEverything happens for a reason,вЂќ weвЂ™re not talking about cause and effect. A result of choosing to text while driving may be a collision in which someone is injured. The statement is true if, in saying it, we mean that we live in a world of cause and effect. Has anyone ever said to you, вЂњEverything happens for a reasonвЂќ? Most of us have heard that statement from someone at some point. TodayвЂ™s post is an excerpt from my new book, Half Truths: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible DoesnвЂ™t Say, which examines several popular half truths that many Christians embrace.