I’ve been there too: you’re standing in the line of other kids as two team leaders take turns picking who they want on their side. It gets awkward as the line starts to dwindle, and the leaders attempt to subtly avoid your eyes. Finally, one calls the second to last person—leaving you a part of the opposite team by default.

It hurts.

“Someone always has to be last,” you tell yourself, “it’s not necessarily a bad thing…” 

But you can’t stop your heart from whispering, “I just wish that for once, someone would choose me first.”

What if I told you, dear Rose, that Someone already did?

God Chose You Before You Were Even Born

There’s a joke around the writing community, that sometimes our characters just pop up out of nowhere and take over. 

But the truth is that, as a writer, I choose who every character in my story is. I give them their hair color, paint their eyes, decide how tall they are, and give them a beautiful personality—all long before I “bring them to life” by putting them onto paper. 

Likewise, no one is born without purpose. In Jeremiah 1:5 God says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (KJV).

In Romans 8:29 it says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (KJV).

Before anyone else knew you even existed, God chose to give you life! And He carefully planned every step you’d take on this earth. 

Before You Loved Him, He Loved You First

(Related post: Love Moved First)

Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (KJV).

After about three long years of fostering, my family was able to adopt two little girls. But it wasn’t until a few months ago that I came to this realization: there is something so amazingly special about adoption. 

You look at this stranger, who couldn’t care less about you, who is rebellious, angry, and broken, and you choose to love them. Not because of anything they’ve ever done, not because you get anything back, not because you have to—but simply because you choose to.

And when they mess up, when they try to push you away, when they try to run, you look them in the eye and say, “I love you. Nothing you do can change that.”

Rose, that’s what God does to us! 

He chose to love us—to love you. He chose to adopt you into His family. And He will choose you over and over and over again, no matter how many times you mess up, or push him away, or try to run. Because He loves you. 

Jesus Chose You When You Were Still A Sinner

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” -2 Timothy 1:9 (KJV)

Jesus didn’t die on the cross because you donated to charity last month, or because you volunteered at church, or because you try to live a “good” life. Nor did He randomly select you to receive His gift of salvation. 

Jesus died on the cross because He decided you were worth it. Because He loved you so much, He was willing to give His own life so that you wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of your sins. 

He took that first step. He chose to save you, long before you ever chose to follow Him. 

God Picked You For The Greatest Mission On Earth

Dear Rose, you are not useless. I know it can feel like you are when you’re the last to be picked for a team, or when no one ever seems to need you.

But God has specifically created you for a purpose. 

He has chosen you to be a light in this dark world. John 15:16 says, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you” (KJV).

Maybe you didn’t get picked for the volleyball team. Maybe that friend asked someone else to go hang out instead of you. Maybe everyone seems to forget about including you in their activities. Whatever it is, Rose, know this: God has hand picked you to reach this world for Him, and to share His Word with the lost and hopeless. 

He has called you to reach out to the eternal souls headed to Hell, and point them to Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but that sure makes me feel pretty important!

After all, what could be more of an honor than to help save lives?

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” -1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

Long ago, when Jesus hung on the cross, He said, “I choose you.”

Long ago, when God spoke life to a dark, empty world, He decided the exact time and place you’d be born.

And you know what, Rose? 

Maybe other people always pick you last. But in the Father’s house, you aren’t last. 

You’re first.

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” -Ephesians 1:4-5 (KJV)

What about you? When was a time when you felt last, and remembered God picked you first?

Comment down below, Rose, and let’s uplift each other!

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