Chosen

Have you ever experienced an identity crisis? You know, those moments when your self-esteem disappears because the things you are responsible for seem to be falling short of your expectations. Have you convinced yourself that your identity is directly related to your performance? It is in these moments when we smell failure that we are prone to fall into deep despair because we forget who we belong to. But is there a better way?

I remember being halfway through grad school studying to be a pastor. My wife and I were seven years into our marriage with four children. Needless to say, going to grad school is not the most lucrative option for providing for your family. My wife was working to support our family and put me through school. She believed in me; however, it frequently seemed others did not. I had close friends, family, and mentors questioning my decision making. Most interactions became a futile exercise in explaining my conviction that God was at work and training me. I began to question. I began to wonder. Am I wrong? Did I make a mistake? What have I done? I remember having the wind knocked out of me as I realized I may have harmed my marriage, ignored my kids, and put my will above the will of my Creator. Where do I go now? Then it happened. I was studying a passage in the Book of Joshua and the Scripture described how Joshua was chosen by God to lead the Israelites. CHOSEN…let that sink in. The Creator of the planet, whose sight can capture the always expanding cosmos, can narrow his focus onto one man for one journey. That word captured me. God chose Joshua, he picked him. I was stunned and wondered can God still do that? The passage of Scripture that Jeff is teaching this weekend answers that question with a resounding YES! Read it:

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1.4-5

Stop—let those words cascade over your soul and into your heart. You are CHOSEN. You are ADOPTED. God wants you. He planned for you. Before the sky was made blue, before the grass was shaded green, before he filled the planet with water and air, he thought of you. Not only did he think of you, but he planned to know you. He set his rescue mission in motion. Not because he had to, but because he takes pleasure in you. You are his best work. Work worth saving.

I emerged from that season of my life with a deeper conviction that God has indeed chosen me. In fact, I tattooed that word on my left forearm. I needed a close, intimate, and graphic illustration that God is for me and will stop at nothing to make me his. I will let people down. I will learn difficult lessons as I develop into a more faithful husband, loving dad, and skilled servant. Yet, my identity is not there. I am his. Chosen in eternity past so I might know my Creator for eternity future.

This week's author- Dan Wright, Kentwood Campus Minister