There are moments when life pulls back the curtain and lets us glimpse something bigger than ourselves. For me, that moment came during a near-death experience. What I felt was hard to put into words, but the truth has stayed with me ever since: life is not accidental; the people you love are known and held by God even before they are born.
Scripture whispers this reality to us. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (Jeremiah 1:5). “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). These aren’t abstract words. They’re reminders that God’s knowledge is not bound by time. He sees the end from the beginning, and in His presence the past, present, and future mingle together like threads in one fabric.
When I was hovering between this life and the next, I sensed not only the presence of family members who had gone before me, but also the presence of family who had yet to come. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren I had never met.. not yet born, not yet named but already real in the heart of God. That realization changed how I see my own life.
It means that every moment we live has weight. Every choice we make ripples forward into generations we may never meet on this side of eternity. It means our responsibility isn’t only to those around us now, but also to those who will one day carry our name, our values, our legacy.
It also means comfort. The ones we long for, the ones we pray for, even the ones we worry will never come… they are already known to God. They are not accidents of biology or chance. They are part of His great story, waiting for their appointed time.
So when life feels random, chaotic, or fragile, remember this: you are not an accident. Your children are not accidents. Your grandchildren are not accidents. You are part of a design so vast that you may only catch a glimpse of it in rare, holy moments. And that glimpse is enough to remind us to live with purpose, gratitude, and hope.
Life is not accidental. It is intentional. It is sacred. And it is known by the One who holds the generations in His hand.