Sometimes in the midst of struggle, we forget our deepest joy . . .
Do you remember back in grade school when the teacher would gather the class to pick teams? Did you dread it as much as I did? Team Captains vied for the most athletic kids, the smartest, the most popular. While the rest of us shrank back, reduced to the value of dime store cast offs.
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God doesn’t choose people based on talent, smarts, or popularity. God doesn't choose people based on talent, smarts, or popularity. Click To Tweet He brought this reminder to me on a day I was feeling particularly unwanted. As I sat before Him, small and wretched, God opened this simple verse to my heart:
“You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.” Nehemiah. 9:7
“God . . . chose Abram . . . “
For some inexplicable reason, God looked down into the vast sea of humanity and picked me out of a mass of faces. He reached past stronger people, beyond those more deserving, over super achievers, and chose . . .
me.
God chose you.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world…” Ephesians 1:4-5
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“[He] brought him out of Ur . . .”
God brought you out of your old empty life . . .
God brought us out of the rut and ruin of yesterday to lead us into a new life for today, buoyant with promise for tomorrow.
” . . . because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive . . . and seated us . . . with [Christ] . . .” Ephesians 2:1-6
“He gave him a new name, Abraham”
God gave you a new name, “Beloved Child”
God gave us a new name, too — a whole new identity. A spotless slate. A fresh start and opportunity to strike out on a path of purpose and significance. John 1:12-13, Song of Solomon 6:3)
” . . . if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” II Corinthians 5:17
As if that wasn’t enough, God chose you and me as His treasured possession.
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“The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Deuteronomy 7:6
We are His Son’s inheritance. (Ephesians 1:18) He redeemed us from bondage, from yesterday’s waste and regret, to prepare us for a glorious future with Christ.
Not because we deserve it, we know we don’t, but simply because of who He is. Sovereign. Gracious. Merciful.
How is it that we allow anything to eclipse such an amazing gift? Isn’t our redemption alone enough to lift our head and set our hearts above our troubles? Yet somehow, in the thick of things we lose sight of it . . .
But today God leans over, looks into our eyes and reminds us, “I could have chosen anyone, but I chose you.”
What has God used to encourage you when you felt unwanted?
Featured photo courtesy of Matthew Smith
Comments 2
What an awesome thought to realize I have something in common with Abraham: I was chosen by the Almighty God.
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 I have to admit, I didn’t even think of kinship to Abraham. Instead, the word “redemption” has been rolling over my tongue, lifting my spirits and liberating me from the dust and fatigue of each day’s struggle.
I love how Scripture has a personal message for each one of us. Isn’t God great?