THE HYPOTHESIS
Was finding Anakin the Will of the Force?
Or was Qui-Gon Jinn just an obstinate maverick?
THE PROOF
First, we'll assume, for the sake of the argument, that Anakin is not found on Tatooine -- either by the Jedi or the Sith. He lives and dies a slave on the planet and disappeares back into the Force from whence he came.
What then happens?
Palpatine rises. Faster. There's no winning shot to destroy the Trade Federation battle station and the Invasion had always been intended by him to be the primary means to the end of his original goals. Darth Maul is still killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi but he is replaced easily by Dooku. Perhaps, Kenobi loses his life on Naboo, as well, because with the droid battle station still in the planet's orbit, it is unlikely that any of our protagonists leave the planet easily. The Clone Wars happen. The Republic falls and the Empire rises. The Jedi are Purged.
It has already been established in the Original Trilogy that only a Skywalker could defeat the Emperor. But there's no baby Luke Skywalker growing up on Tatooine (or for that matter, baby Leia on Alderaan) to save them all because:
1. In the first place, the Luke and Leia we know will not exist as Anakin and Padmé never meet.
2. Presupposing another woman has a Force-strong child for Anakin, the Jedi still have no knowledge of the Skywalkers. They cannot know they have an investment on Tatooine to protect. The next generation Skywalkers also live and die in obscurity -- or, worse -- are recruited by the Sith Lords -- with no balancing effect of an eccentric old wizard in the background.
THE CONCLUSION
Finding Anakin was the Will of the Force. (Qui-Gon might still have been as obstinate maverick, though. But he at any rate, he was a right obstinate maverick.)
Q.E.D.
