I am chosen.

I am wanted.

For me.

Not for my service. Not for my talents. Not for my looks.

For me. All of me. The good and the ugly.

I am chosen.

You are chosen.

Do you believe that? Or is it a truth for someone else, but you cannot fundamentally apply it to yourself?

This truth I have struggled to apply to my own life. The theme of ‘unchosen’ runs strong through my story. I was always the last kid chosen for playground games. Boyfriends came and went when they chose someone else. The All-State Choir Director chose me, but my own high school choir instructor did not.

I have been chosen by friends and unchosen by the same friends.

Unchosen.

Unchosen is woven into my identity. But God has set me free. He has hung a banner over my head that reads: ‘Chosen’ ‘Loved’ ‘Approved’ ‘Mine’.

It was a couple of decades before my heart’s door opened a crack for that truth to seep in. Just as dry, cracked ground becomes soft and moist with a gentle rain, the truth of being chosen began to seep into the cracks of my being and eventually the cracks filled and the ‘unchosen’ places of my heart became soft, fertile ground for the truth to grow.

The truth of being chosen.

Chosen.

Me.

You.

Zephaniah 3:17 tells me that my Lord will rejoice over me with gladness, He will quiet me with His Love and He will rejoice over me with singing. But this is not for me alone.

He sings over you. You are chosen as well.  You are his delight. He will ever sing over you.

Can you hear it? Listen closely:

‘I choose you. My hand is on you, choosing you–guiding you. I have you close to my heart for you are my chosen, you are my delight. My song rises high in the air around you, for you are my chosen, my delight, and I will ever sing over you.’

This is the song I hear and I pray that you may open your heart wide to the truth of ‘Chosen’ and let the identity of ‘Unchosen’ be tossed aside for the lie it is.

I lift my face to His and see myself through His eyes….