CHOSEN
CHOSEN FOR SUFFERING
CHOSEN FOR SALVATION
CHOSEN BY GOD
CHOSEN BY GOD HIMSELF
CHOSEN, participle passive. 1) Selected from a number; picked out; taken in preference; elected; predestinated; designated to office. 2) Select; distinguished by preference; eminent.
I do not know about you, but I have to see things like this in black and white to let it really sink in. This life with Jesus has purpose. And I was CHOSEN for it. Make no mistake about it, I have been chosen to suffer for Him. And, I am much better off if I accept it.
There.
That is truth. Hard. But truth nonetheless.
Here in America, we have this belief that to be happy means that we are to not ever suffer, go hungry, or hurt. But the reality is, that God has not called us to a life of ease. He has called us to a life with Him. And there will be times of great suffering and intense pain. This is God’s plan and He does not need me to add my two cents.
Not saying that I don’t try. Of course, I try. I mean, who wants to have pain every day? Not me. But, when I am in my moments of maturity I am able to see the bigger picture. I am able to see Philippians 2:5 as a litmus test for my walk with God:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.
This verse says it all. If I complain, then I am definitely not having the same attitude as Christ. If I am having a pity party, no one is invited, because that is not the way Christ lived, lives.
I am to honor Christ IN my suffering. God does not sit up in heaven looking for people to devour with suffering. Rather He uses the circumstances in life to draw us close to Him.
I will confess that there are times when I ask God WHY? And He will respond very gently with,
Because you are CHOSEN by Me, to bring Me glory even in this.
I have spoken, yes, I have called him, I have brought him and he will succeed in his mission. Isaiah 48:15
When I read this I was floored by the fact that we can succeed in suffering. If God has called me to suffer, then I want succeed for Him and I want to give Him glory in the process. I want to have victory every day. Can I have victory every day when I seem to be crying every day? Well, I would say yes, because God meets me here in the tears.
I may not like the fact that I am chosen for suffering, but God is pleased with me. How do I know this? Because every single time I do PT for my very sore and aching feet, I am resolved to tears because of His pleasure over me. I usually play Elevation Worship
when I am doing this part of my day, and The Blessing in particular has been my quarantine song. And as I do so many repetitions of this, or so many repetitions of that, I have my heart on Jesus and I usually end up crying because of His goodness to me. He is good. Even in my pain, God is good. He loves me. He is for me. He is not against me. He has His ear bent toward me. He welcomes me into the throne room whenever I want to come.
And I can come whenever I want. I will not be shut out. I am welcomed, and that with open arms and heart. Me, the one who is chosen to suffer. Me, the one who doubts the reason why for the suffering. Me, the one who has learned to just be in His Presence and allow all things to wash away in His love.
That sounds so 70ish, but it’s true. I have to come to the place of acceptance that He is love and out of His love, He chooses. He chose Moses to lead a stubborn people. This Moses killed a man. This Moses had run to the desert. Yet, God chose him. God chose Paul to plant many churches, write almost half of the New Testament, and lay down so many doctrinal truths for us to read and know and follow. And....this same Paul was on the hunt for the early Christians. He was party to many of their deaths. Yet, God chose him.
Why does God chose? And whom does He choose? I think the answer is to display His glory. He did that with Moses. And the people of Israel.
And I believe He did that with Paul. If you were to look in the Bible and study the ones that God had chosen I believe you would find some very interesting characters. A lot of them look just like you. Just like me. Doing normal activity on a normal day. Then, wham. A new mission.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. James 1:2
Do I consider it PURE JOY to face trials? To face the fact that God has chosen me to suffer pain every day, again? Honestly, I do not know whether I should answer that. The truth is, I am not always there. There are times when I just want to crawl in a hole and stop. Then there are times that I have such a sweet time with Jesus that I want to keep going and this too shall pass. So, my prayer a lot of times is that God would increase my faith.
Then the disciples said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” Luke 17:5
These boys were with Jesus daily for 3-plus years and they were asking for the increase, so I need to as well. I do not have the benefit of having Jesus in the flesh with me. Boy do I wish for that at times. So, if they could ask for the increase, then I am going to as well. Jesus is the AUTHOR AND PERFECTER of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He creates it, causes it to grow and then finishes it.
He is more concerned about completing what He has started and He CHOOSES us to certain missions, if you will. Some have been Mother Theresa. Or Billy Graham. Or Pastor Greg Laurie. Or ourselves. He gives us the faith to live day in and day out. And in this calling, He is asking that we choose to glorify Him.
I should not be surprised at the suffering, because He picked me out of all the others He could have chosen. That is not to say others are not suffering. It is just this suffering He has called me to (and my family, because I am not suffering alone). If I run the race correctly, I keep my eyes on my lane. I cannot run the race of life with grace if I constantly compare my lane with someone else's. He has marked out my race, my lane. And right now my lane is passing through suffering.
Do you remember those dreadful times on the playground when all were lined up to pick teams? So awkward. God does His choosing in His own way. He sometimes picks us first for something, or He sometimes allows us a pass. Wouldn't it be nice if there were always a pass on pain? I personally would love to have a pain-free life but God deems that I am better when I am reminded that I need Him.
I had typed ¨God deems it best that we are better...¨ And I had to erase that. Because what He has called me to is not someone else's race. My suffering is just that. Mine. Uniquely fitted for me. And He chose this for me. It is definitely not one size fits all. Or even one size fits most.
It's actually, one size fits CHOSEN.
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