My by far favorite talk show is still Oprah. I used to love coming home from school just to see who she'd bring on or what the giveaway of the day would be. While her show may be long off air, I still love the lady and read up on her here and there. Recently I came upon a quote she said at some point in time, and it's something I really need to understand right now. She said:

"Trust that everything happens for a reason, even when you're not wise enough to see it."

Of course Ms. Marilyn Monroe has a good quote out there too about everything happening for a reason, but I especially like Oprah's just because of the first word. Trust. Such a simple thought yet such a difficult idea to practice at times.

It seems rather simple to trust yourself. To think that the decisions you make are well-thought and best for you at the time being. You can trust that you know yourself well enough to keep your best interest in mind and most of the time do things because you want to do them. A lot of the time, the person you trust most is yourself, and that's not a bad thing at all. I think when people are best off, they have this inward confidence that guides them in the right direction. But things happen in our lives that cut off that trust in ourselves.

Here's why it's important not to blame ourselves when things go wrong. It's not always because of the choices you made. Bad things don't happen because you went right instead of left. Bad things don't happen because you decided to go instead of stay home. Things don't always go array because of this or that little thing. But, because of something we don't have control over, things do just happen. Accidents happen. Bad decisions are made everyday. People leave, our team loses, we forget something important, we get hurt, and bad things unfortunately do happen to good people. And like Oprah said, we really may not be able to see why at first or for awhile.

Things may seem like they didn't work out to you at the time, but really for some reason, in some way, that's exactly how things were supposed to happen. Even if that's not how you originally thought it would go, the way the past went and how the future will go is and will be the course you needed to take. While we trust our ambitions and decisions, we will make mistakes, but they're the exact ones we need to get where we need to be.

It's easy to say everything happens for a reason, but it is hard to trust that the not so easy things do also happen for a very well thought out and specific reason. Besides keeping that trust in yourself with the good and the bad, another person, the best person, is one we can look to for that wisdom to see the meanings behind things.

When we can't see why people get sick, hurt, or pass on, don't blame Him, trust Him. When you feel unlucky, unworthy, underestimated, undermined, or unsuccessful, trust that He has given you feats to tackle and mountains to climb that will only take you to better times. Trust that everything happens for a reason because of Him, for the good of yourself and your path. And if you're skeptical, that's okay.

I never used to think of talking to God as a way to understand my life. But now I've found that trying to talk to Him helps me think in a way that makes a situation more clear. I know that certain things in my life still make me question His work but trusting in His wisdom is something that provides this sense of safety.

I've heard my whole life that everything happens for a reason. I mean, can't give Oprah all the credit, it's been around awhile. But I do thank her for that little addition to trust that even if I can't understand why or what right now, someone knows the reason. And that reason alone is everything.