Chosen By God
(8 Minute Read)
By Naomi Lorenzin
CHOSEN BY GOD…can we just stop here for a minute? Chosen, hand picked, desired, longed for by the Creator God. Without anything before or after we are chosen by God. He desires you and me to be a valued member in his family, “for this new life of love”. Not because of anything amazing we’ve done, and not because of anything we’ve avoided, but just because I’m me and you’re you. He loves us and has chosen us.
It’s so easy to add to this statement ‘chosen by God,’ isn’t it? We may think, “I’m chosen for ministry, I’m chosen into this job, I’m chosen for this position.” In my head I’m chosen to DO, rather than just BE.
But let’s be real for a minute, position doesn’t matter one iota to God, except for the position I put myself under Him. When I position myself to see and be seen, that is when I truly experience this life of love, His blessing, and His friendship.
The life of love
This life of love is one where there is no striving, no aching in my heart, no fear or angst, but one that is peaceful and content, confident in the fact that if I don’t lift another finger, I’m still chosen and loved by God. All he desires from me is my heart, period.
Take out the “doing for God” and “living for God” and replace it with “being with God.” Be present, in the moment. Hear His voice, feel His breath and the beat of His heart as you rest in that moment. Stop and re-learn what it looks like to live from the outflow of your relationship with God.
Take a moment
Have you stopped to take note of the position you’ve found yourself in these days? I was so good at positioning myself at the front of the Sunday race that comes each and every week, ready with all the bells and whistles, and the next cool thing that I couldn’t wait to share with the kids. Until that day I realized I wasn’t making space to position myself under the Father to first receive. I was no longer living my life for Jesus, but was living my life for the job. That line can be blurry sometimes.
I began to recognize that no longer was I wearing the wardrobe picked out for me by our incredible God, one of quiet strength and discipline, but I was putting on angst and perfection, with a perfume of frustration. I was no longer ministering out of my love relationship with God, but out of the need to get a job done. Sound familiar?
Covid sent us for a loop, but have you taken a moment to stop and have a look at where you’ve landed? Where is your heart positioned today? Maybe you’re healthy and have never been better! Praise Jesus for that! But if you’re like me and have felt like you’ve gone through the ringer, I want to encourage you to stop, take a step back, and take a deep breath in.
Do you have a rhythm of Sabbath in your life? What spiritual disciplines have you been practicing? It may be time to start caring for you, before it’s too late.
Inhale, exhale
One of my favourite things I’ve read this year is a quote from Brené Brown’s book Braving The Wilderness. She was at a conference with Joan Halifax, who encouraged her to rest before the evening session saying:
“Tonight we will exhale and teach. Now its time to inhale. There is the in-breath and there is the out-breath, and it’s easy to believe that we must exhale all the time without ever inhaling. But the inhale is absolutely essential if we want to continue to exhale.”
Before this year I was consistently exhaling with only short sharp inhales here and there – the life of kids ministry and lack of volunteers, right? Wrong.
I needed to make tough decisions so that I was able to take a real vacation, to turn my mind off of the details of my job, and trust those around me to carry the load. Those are things I never did and I burned out because of it.
To have a life of longevity in ministry one must learn to take time to inhale, so that our exhale has impact. To sit, be still and breathe in the very essence of God.
There needs to be balance. I can do nothing apart from Christ; ministry done in my own strength is but clanging cymbals, but ministry done out of the strength given to the One who has chosen me and gifted me is one that makes an impact in eternity.
Where do we look?
The study notes in my Bible refer to being poor in Spirit as one who recognizes their “spiritual bankruptcy”. Unless I’m abiding in Jesus and inhaling His presence, my spirit signs the papers for bankruptcy and my exhaling is worthless.
I fully recognize the necessity and weight of the job that is kids and family ministry. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t love my job and calling; the problem became that I was no longer positioned under the One who was calling me. The One who had chosen me was no longer where I was fixing my eyes.
Finding rest
I’ve been so blessed during this season to find rest, to return back to my first love and to position myself once again, in this ‘new life of love’. My prayer for you is that you would be able to find the same. To stop and have a look at where your heart is positioned.
If you find this a timely reminder to take a moment to stop, close your eyes, and begin to inhale again, I ask you, how will you make this happen? How will you adjust the rhythms of your life to find rest and the ability to inhale? How will you change your wardrobe to the one that God has picked out for you?
I suggest you stop and return to the beginning…”so, chosen by God…” nothing before and nothing after. Come just as you are, chosen by God to simply be present with Him and inhale.
A Question for You: How will you adjust the rhythms of your life to find rest and the ability to inhale?
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. (Colossians 3:12-14 MSG)