Is There A Manifest Destiny For Some?

I must admit up front that I feel a little bit contemptuous of people who blame everything bad that happens to them on fate. I have equal scorn for those who keep asking God for material favors; and then blame Him when they do not materialize – or believe that their sins will be forgiven by repentance; or chanting a dozen Hail Mary’s. One of the greatest gifts granted to humans is free will. I believe that people are responsible for their own actions; and should be ready to face the consequences – as you sow, so shall you reap, so to speak. For sure, the Almighty does occasionally give a helpful nudge to those who believe in Him, but I don’t expect Him to baby sit me.

Then again, there are occasions when even a hard nosed realist like me is forced to accept that there is such a thing as manifest density – at least for some of us. Occasions when a sequence of events is so illogical and beyond human reasoning, that one is forced to accept that it can only be a result of God’s will. And nowhere does this miracle manifest itself more dramatically than in a matter of life or death.

Oscar George Rose was born in a London nursing home, clinically dead, with no heartbeat. It took eight minutes before doctors were able to resuscitate him. Tragic, but hardly unique. Then for nine days he was in intensive care, amid fears he had suffered some permanent brain damage. His liver and kidneys weren't working properly and during that first day, he kept having seizures because of the brain trauma. Oscar’s parents were told to be prepared to expect some brain damage. The doctors were more or less sure that Oscar would have cerebral palsy; and that his movement and mobility would be affected for life – on the very rare chance that he survived at all. About a month after he was born, Oscar’s doctors carried out a series of brain scans; and found to their relief – and amazement – that the baby had come through his trauma completely unharmed. Oscar is now six weeks old, back home with his parents; and healthy as any normal baby.

So what cured Oscar, when his doctors had almost given up hope? Was it the wonders of modern medicine? I don’t believe so. I believe God decided that it was not Oscar’s time to die; that it was his destiny to survive – maybe even to fulfill some purpose that God will reveal to him in due course. There have been other instances, of course, where individuals given up for lost have literally come back from the dead. In their cases – as in Oscar’s – their survival was not a direct consequence of their actions. A higher power did intervene – to allow them to complete what they had been sent down to earth to accomplish.

Sometimes, the Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.