There Are No Accidents

Tim Keller writes:

God is called the one “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:11). “Everything” that happens fits in accord with, in harmony with, God’s plan. This means that God’s plan includes “little things.” Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but the disposal thereof is from the Lord.” Even the flip of the coin is part of his plan.

Ultimately, there are no accidents. His plan also includes bad things. Psalm 60:3 reads, “You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.”
Suffering then is not outside God’s plan but a part of it. In Acts 4:27-28, the Christian disciples pray to God, “In this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus . . . Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Jesus’ suffering and death was a great act of injustice, but it was also part of the set plan of God.

(Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Chapter 6)