Chosen.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory."  

~Ephesians 1:3-12

Have you ever felt left out?  Neglected?  Overlooked?  Pushed aside?  Ignored?  I have--and it hurts.  In fact I was going through one of those moments of throwing myself a pity party and being mad at those who left me out today.  I knew I didn't have a good attitude about it, but I so desperately wanted to be included.  It hurt.  

Still though, I was having a bad attitude--so I knew I needed to do something about it.  I went back to my bedroom and prayed.  I told God I was in a bad mood (He already knew anyway . . .), and I needed Him to do something about it.  He prompted me to read Ephesians 1.  I got to about verse 4 and stopped.  He chose us before even the world was made!!  Isn't that an awesome thought?  GOD, the amazing and holy One, who has more power than we can even imagine . . . He . . . He chose us.  I just sat there and let that soak in for a little bit.  How awesome is that?!?  Ok, so can you tell this changed my mood?  Truth . . . it has a way of bringing joy.  

As I was thinking about this I realized that it really doesn't matter whether or not other people include me or not.  When I look at that fact alongside the fact that the God of the universe, the Lord of all creation--has chosen me, has blessed me with EVERY spiritual blessing, has lavished His grace on me?  When I put those two thoughts beside each other the joy that the second one brings will overwhelm the hurt every time.  For God is way more important than any person will ever be.  That's the way it should be anyway . . . if my heart is still dwelling in hurt I need to look at whether I've allowed a person to become an idol to me.     

Take joy in this today, dear friends!  He has chosen you; He loves you; He has lavished His grace on you; and He has given you an inheritance!  Those verses are SO rich. Let's allow His love--His decision to call us His chosen ones--to bless our hearts.