Thousands of years later, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback
Church, essentially said the same thing in his forty-day
adventure, The Purpose-Driven Life.
Day Two (the second chapter) of his forty-day adventure is
titled, “You Are Not an Accident.” It opens with the words of
God: “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you
were born” (Isaiah 44:2a CEV).
Warren then begins this chapter in his own approachable
words, saying:
You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and
your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned
you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he
expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you
were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not
fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at
this very moment.... God prescribed every single detail of your
body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your
hair, and every other feature. 6Rick Warren really nailed it, didn’t he? The Purpose-Driven
Life has sold over twenty-five million copies not because of a
fluke or a fad but because it answers the questions everyone
asks: “Who am I? Why am I here?”
Why have millions read The Purpose-Driven Life, studied it
in small groups, and shared it with others? Everyone wants to
be loved. Everyone wants to know they are special. Everyone
wants to believe they were created for a purpose and that their
life has meaning. (If you haven’t read it, you should. At its
conclusion, you’ll be hard-pressed to ever again believe that
you are not special to God!)
I am especially encouraged with the unique style that Rick