I frequently hear people attribute their successes and their near misses to God. Every time I hear about how God blessed them in particular with that job or saved them specifically from that potential tragedy, I can't help but wonder what makes them think they're so special.

It's one thing to say that perhaps God plays some role in the good things, but quite another to imply that God cares so much more about you than other people that He makes things work out in your life and not theirs. I don't believe the people who publicly thank God for their "blessings" always mean to convey this message, but it is implicit in their statements regardless.

For example, I've heard people talk about how something worked out in their lives because "God is in control." Jerry received the promotion he had been hoping and praying for since last year. Once he got it, he said something along the lines of "Thank you, God, for blessing me with this job. I knew it would work out because You're always in control." These statements reveal Jerry's belief that it was God who decided he should have the position, God who rejected the other applicants who had also been hoping and praying for the same promotion, God who worked it all out for Jerry. Jerry in particular.

Now perhaps, by thanking God for the position and saying God is in control, Jerry is simply showing his appreciation for the very existence his promotion and/or of promotions in general. If everything comes from God or originated with God or is all part of God's plan or whatever, then clearly God must have orchestrated this job opportunity for him. And perhaps Jerry is just being thankful for it. For some reason, this explanation sounds better to many people with whom I've spoken about the Jerrys of the world.

But, to me, it doesn't matter whether Jerry thinks his promotion came as a result of the way God created the universe or of God's intentionally working it out for him in real time. It doesn't matter whether Jerry believes God also orchestrated the events that lead to other people getting their promotions. It doesn't even matter whether Jerry believes all promotions that have ever existed and that will ever exist are orchestrated by God. None of these nuances make his statements about God specifically giving him his promotion any less exclusive.

If Jerry believes God is the reason he received the promotion, he believes he is special in God's eyes. Not just special, though, more special (since everyone is "special" in God's eyes — a concept which renders the word entirely meaningless, by the way). Jerry would have to think that he was and maybe still is more special to God than the other applicants since he was blessed with the promotion and they weren't.

I suppose Jerry could say that God has a plan for the other applicants and that, although they didn't get the job, it's for the better. And dang, if that just isn't soconvenient for Jerry in particular. I'm not saying it couldn't have been God, just that it seems awfully self-important of him to assume so.