HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, February 4, 2025 – Spiritual Chaos Theory (SCT) posits that things happen for no reason whatsoever: They just happen. The theory explains why bad things happen to good people and also why good things happen to bad people. There is no cause-and-effect function underlying SCT and no implied reward mechanism, whether for good or for bad rewards. For brevity’s sake, SCT can be summed up simply as “sh*t happens”.

But of course, SCT is entirely nonsense (I just now made it up). We born-again believers well know (or should know) that when adversity occurs in our lives, it’s either a negative reward for something we did or it’s a God-approved test. It’s not some random happening, because there’s no such thing as a random happening. If bad things happen to “good people”, those “good people” either ain’t as good as we/they think they are or they’re undergoing a test.

Satan promotes made-up theories like SCT because they remove repentance from the equation. If you’re not to blame for your problems, what’s there to repent? Even better, since you’re not to blame, you can blame others! Preventing you from repenting while at the same time getting you to point fingers is a win-win in Satan’s world.

Not just individuals but whole nations can labor under the delusion of SCT, believing that the hard time they’re suffering is either just the way it is or the fault of other people or nations. But scripture shows us that nations, too, need to repent, not just individuals, and that someone in a position of authority over a nation needs to humble him- or herself before God or the hard time will not only continue but worsen. However, it’s not enough to repent on behalf of others if those others deny their need to repent. Such repentance is in vain.

Jesus famously repented for his people during his final moments on the cross, but his repentance was not in vain. It served a dual purpose: 1) to show he held no animosity towards his enemies, leaving him a “spotless” perfect sacrifice; and 2) to “repent forward” for those who would one day themselves sincerely repent. Jesus knew that a remnant would follow him right up until his second coming, and it was those people he asked God to forgive in advance. This was the whole purpose of his sacrifice – to absolve “whosoever will” of their sins, not all people in general, but only those who would one day turn back to God. Anyone who has not since sincerely repented remains under the condemnation of Adam’s sin.

Similar to SCT in its baselessness is the assumption that everyone merely by virtue of existing has been forgiven and is back in God’s good graces. This lie is heavily promoted by Satan mainly because it removes the need for repentance. As born-again believers, we are well aware of the need to repent not only in turning back to God but in remaining close to him. Because there are no such things as random happenings, repentance and patient endurance are vital.