Analyzing the Odds of You Being Born

A testament of God’s grace

I recently watched a TEDx Talk where the speaker stated the odds of each one of us being born at the moment in time we were born, to the parents we were born to, with the DNA structure that we have, are 1 in 400,000,000,000.

Those are remarkable odds, but I don’t believe you and I are here by chance. I believe we were created for a purpose, by a creative God who has a master plan.

Even so, I often marvel at all the obstacles my ancestors had to overcome for me to be given the gift of life. I didn’t choose to be born, nor did my parents or grandparents. Yet, the fact I was born, is a testament to God’s grace given to every generation that came before me. And the same is true for you, as well.

Digging at the roots of my family tree

I never fully understood this until a recent trip to visit my parents yielded two amazing discoveries. Not being a genealogy hound, I hadn’t spent much time digging at the roots of my family tree. But what I learned fascinated me, inspired me, and changed how I view myself and the world around me.

It all started when my mom introduced me to a co-worker and told me they discovered through casual conversation their ancestors had come over on the same boat in the 1700’s.

“How do you know?” I asked, astounded a generation 300 years later would even possess that information. But, somehow, they did. And the story my mom told me was quite remarkable.

The Rhine River ruse revealed

My mother’s ancestors had boarded a ship on the Rhine river, paying the captain for their passage to America. When the ship reached the sea, the captain and crew left the ship with the ruse of obtaining more supplies for the long journey. They never returned. Instead, they absconded with all the money and left the immigrants floating helplessly at sea.

In time, their ship was discovered off the coast of England, where they were found starving to death. Word of their sorry plight was sent to the King. He took pity on them, and immediately sent provisions. But he did more than that. He made sure they got safely to America.