Chosen

     Tuesday, August 12th, 2014

      Remember when you were a kid, standing in a line, back to the wall, as you waited for one of the team captains to pick you?  Dodgeball, tag, capture the flag; no matter the game, that wait was always the worst part.  Nervous sweat running down your face, hands clammy, stomach churning in turmoil.  Names being called, kids leaving the line on both sides...would you be picked?  Would you be the last one standing there?  Did anyone even want you on their team?  Your breaths came faster as you started to panic.  Then finally, you heard your name.  Relief flooded over you, nearly weakening your legs to incapacitation.  Somebody wanted you.  You had been chosen.

       Though I was always one of those whose turn to be picked varied (sometimes I was first, sometimes I was last), I know that feeling well.  That feeling of relief, joy, and pride that washes over you when you know someone wants you after all.  Someone thinks you are worth choosing.  It is also the feeling I get when I read the following passage:

"'You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'and my servant

whom I have chosen, so that you may know and

believe Me and understand that I am He.'"

Isaiah 43:10

 

        This isn't just talking about a game of tag.  This is the God of the universe speaking, and He has chosen me to be on His team.  Lil' ol' me.  Just as the knowledge that I am blessed humbles me, this truth uplifts me and gives my life meaning.  If I ever again wonder what I'm doing here and why in the world God ever chose me, the answer is right there.  He chose me so that I may know and believe Him.  So that I may understand who He is.  If I am working toward that goal, as His chosen one, nothing else matters.  He has chosen me.  I will choose Him.

 

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot."

Psalm 16:5

 

 

 

*If this is your first time reading my blog, you may wonder what in the world this entry has to do with Haiti.  Though I am currently in the U.S.A., planning to go back to Haiti soon, I have felt God leading me to share some of the things He has been teaching me in the last few months.  Most of them might not necessarily have a "Haiti focus" but they are truths that God has used in my life to better equip me for serving in Haiti and wherever else He will call me.  Please read my entry titled "I Am Who God Says I Am" for further explanation.  If you want to read about my adventures in Haiti, please enjoy reading my older entries (beginning in 2009).