Chosen

Runaway

He was chosen to be a runaway, hiding in the caves and constantly pursued by his enemies. He was chosen to be exiled, running from home and then running from his reputation as a mighty warrior. Unwelcome both by his countrymen and by his country’s enemies, he was finally able to get a group of discontents, distressed, and debtors to rally to his cause.

He was chosen to be cursed.

As he fled from his rebellious son, his friends abandoned him at every turn, and his enemy threw stones and dust at him while the lies and curses streamed from his mouth.

You may know David as the man chosen to be king over all Israel, a man after God’s own heart, and the sweet singer of Israel who wrote at least half of the Psalms. It’s easy to read through his trials quickly, to see them as merely a prelude to the real work that God had for him.  It’s easy to forget that his faith was forged in the time of trouble, and that each day of running for his life was a day ordained by God for His glory and David’s good. God doesn’t merely ordain the end, He also ordains the means, as David acknowledges throughout the Psalms: “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8)

Alone

He was chosen to be alone throughout his life. Forbidden to marry or have children, his message conflicted directly with the message of the spiritual leaders of his day.

He was chosen to sit in the stocks and in prison.

He was chosen to preach to a hypocritical people, who pledged one thing and did another, and who did not heed his words.

You may know Jeremiah as the prophet who was chosen to preach to the people of Israel during the last days of the kingdom, the author of two books of the Bible, and a courageous man of God. It is hard to read over his trials quickly, because his life was full of them. Known as “The Weeping Prophet”, at one point his life was so miserable that he cursed the day of his birth and wished that he had been stillborn. In terms of accomplishments, he did not have much to show for his unwavering commitment to the LORD and His truth. Both the king and the people would repeatedly ask for his advice and then do the exact opposite, and he was carried off to Egypt after he told the people not to go. He died in a foreign land and did not see the fulfillment of most of the promises God spoke through him.

Poor

He was chosen to be born into poverty. He lived for thirty years in obscurity. Despised and rejected by men, he was misunderstood by his family, forsaken by his disciples, and betrayed by a friend. He was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He was abandoned by God.

He was tortured, killed by his enemies in the cruelest manner possible, and buried in another man’s grave.

You know that Jesus was, and is, the Redeemer of God’s elect – our Savior. He is the one whose life holds significance for every single person in the whole world – past, present, and future. There were no wasted moments, no wrong turns, no sinful decisions, no regrets in his earthly life and ministry.  Yet, for some reason, God chose for Him to come to earth as a baby, to have physical limitations and needs. What great things did Jesus accomplish? So many that the apostle John exclaims: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). Yet we know almost nothing of his life before his ministry began at thirty years of age. What things did he do? We simply are not told.

You are chosen. You have been chosen by God to do the work that you are doing. You may be the one chosen to suffer ill health, family crisis, career loss, or any other number of sufferings. Will you murmur and complain that your talents are not being properly used? You may be the one who is chosen to change this diaper, to comfort this elderly person, to pray for this neighbor. Will you instead wish for a public ministry, one that is somehow more important? Or will you instead, like Jesus, be content to give up glory and honor for the sake of your heavenly Father? Will you wash the dishes cheerfully?

“Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, Divine Love would have put you there.” – Charles H. Spurgeon