My Friend Told Me Everything Happens for a Reason - Does the Bible Agree?

The following is a transcribed Video Q&A, so the text may not read like an edited article would. Scroll to the bottom to view this video in its entirety. 

"Everything happens for a reason is one of those statements that a lot of people use to comfort those who are going through a hard time. A lot of times we say it and we don't actually realize what we're saying but, it's just kind of that go to phrase, 'Hey, don't worry, everything happens for a reason and you're gonna be okay.' But, what we don't realize and I know, theologically, I'm on one side of the coin and there's people who are on the other side of the coin with this and that's okay, but the reason I don't like that statement is because when we're telling somebody that everything happens for a reason. Don't worry guys, God is here. Everything happens for a reason ... what you're basically telling that person, depending on what they just went through is you got raped for a reason, your child died of cancer for a reason, your husband got into a car accident for a reason, your son drown for a reason, and that is completely opposite of the good and loving God that I know and that I read in the Bible.

What I think is better for us to say is not that everything happens for a reason but, that God can redeem all things and give them a purpose. Those are two completely different statements and I think this one, that God can redeem all things for a purpose, is a lot more biblically sound than just lofting out everything happens for a reason. And that's a lot more comforting too. To say that 'Listen, God is with you in this and he can redeem this terrible broken situation, whatever you're going through and give it a purpose.' To me, for them to say 'God can take these terrible situations and redeem them and give them a purpose' that's a lot more comforting than just saying, 'Hey, everything happens for a reason.'"