YOU ARE CHOSEN

Imagine, billions of years ago God the Father, seated on His throne in heaven, has a genius idea to create the universe. The Trinity then plans the millions of galaxies, stars, planets and come down to their finale; Earth. This is their favourite planet and they want it to be the best. God the Father wants Earth to be incomparable to any other planet and the finest of His creation to be living here. After planning the light, land, animals and more, God decides He wants to put human beings on Earth and begins to create the entire human race. God carefully chooses how each person will be and makes a plan for each individual.

Now this might seem like the introduction of a sci-fi movie, but  I like to think this is how the creation story began. However, this is not any old story from a book. Ephesians 1:4 says, “just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love”. The Word of God clearly says here that even before the foundations of the world were ‘laid’, God the Father had chosen every single one of us. Before creating the whole universe itself, God had already chosen each person that would live here on earth. It’s amazing to think that billions of years ago, someone had already planned where we would go, what we would do and whom we would meet in our lives (of course, this depends on the choices we make). Jeremiah 29:11 says “For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” I'm sure many of us have seen and read this Bible verse many times. Despite this, it never occurred to me that the plans God had for me were made before the foundation of the world; that He separated me from others and chose me as His child. This alone gives us enough reason to have complete trust in God in every situation of our lives. So no matter what we face, good or bad, we should face it with complete confidence in Him. In difficult situation or when faced with complicated choices, the best way forward is to ask God what His plans are because His plans are the best ones. Don’t just take my word for it, the Word of God promises us too. Our loving Father wants us to make our own choices and use the talents that we have been given wisely, but it is up to us. 

One of the most famous of Jesus’ miracles is the 'feeding of the five thousand'. The little boy in this miracle plays a crucial role that we sometimes overlook. John 6:8-9 says, “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” The little boy bravely came forward to give his bread and fish to Jesus but the disciples almost sneer at him, thinking that nothing in particular will happen. But how wrong they were! Similarly how wrong we are when we undermine His great plans for us. The only thing the little boy had with him was five loaves and two fish and without hesitation, he offered it all to Jesus. In the same way, if we surrender everything to our Lord, He will transform our lives in a way that we could never have imagined.

 2 Timothy 4:17 says, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength”. Let us therefore remember that God is with us and it is He who gives us the strength to live our lives according to His will, for His glory. Whichever path we take in life, we should have the assurance that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28). After all, He was the one who chose us all those billions of years ago and I am sure He doesn’t make mistakes.