Perhaps you’ve had it happen to you – a near miss. Somehow you avoided becoming a victim. Perhaps someone else died, and you didn’t. Maybe you called it pure luck, or the luck of the draw.

Or, perhaps you thought “by the grace of God.”

In a lifetime, each of us is likely to have such an experience. Afterward, we may have marveled at the particular circumstances that saved us. Maybe you got caught in traffic and were delayed just long enough to avoid being the vehicle that was crushed by that overturned semi. Maybe you were late for work because the kids were dawdling and you were absent when a disgruntled co-worker came to work with a gun.

The possibilities or the probabilities are endless. And over the course of a lifetime, it may happen again and again, and each time, you chalk it up to chance.

But is it?

Each of us probably ponders at some time in our life – why am I here? What is my purpose in life? Yet, in all probability, we are unable to identify a particular purpose for our existence.

Are we destined to produce a child who will one day become a serious influence in world events? Are we here to be the positive role model for another, or to be the comfort for someone in distress? Are we here to be at a particular time and place to inspire another? Will we even recognize that moment?

Is it possible that God creates those little inconveniences to protect us until we have fulfilled our purpose?

It is likely that each of us is created with free will. After all, we make plenty of mistakes. And the thought of God coordinating our lives like so many marionettes is a bit contrary to the concept of free will.

Maybe it’s a combination of both.

Perhaps we are allowed to live our lives as we choose, and God merely gives us a little nudge now and then to keep us on track, to guide us toward our purpose.

Then comes the doubt. How could God possibly keep track of the lives of millions of people on the earth, and coordinate those near misses to achieve His purpose?

But then, how could God possibly coordinate the movements and orbits of billions of stars, planets and moons in the universe?

Logic suggests that compared to that, watching over a few million lives is child’s play.