Isaiah 40

“I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

“But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.  I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”  Isaiah 41:9, 18 – 20

Chosen. I have a fundamental need – to be wanted!  That need is superbly met by knowing that the God who flung the galaxies by millions into space is in my life!  Little me.  Had God not chosen to be with me who am I, anyway? The fact that God put his hand on me, quite unknown to me at first, is one of the most precious thoughts my mind has ever absorbed.

My mind goes back to the Upper Room where Jesus had his last conversation with his disciples before his death. He confided with them a startling fact. He said, “You did not choose Me but I chose you.” John 15:16 Really? Yes. That is fact, shared in confidence by Jesus. What does that mean?  That means that I need have no fear, as He said, but can rely completely on the grace and mercy of God. I am his!

I am held by the compelling reality that before I chose to open my heart to God, God had already prepared everything in such a way that when I turn to Him all of his mercies are there, to be enjoyed by me.

It also reminds me that when I chose to give my life to God, that was possible because God had already chosen me. I know that God’s time and my human time are not the same. But that does not diminish the awesome fact that I am His and He is mine.  All the saints have rejoiced in this blessing of life in God.

No human being can explain all this. It is there as a matter of faith. When I see God’s mercy, I receive it.  That is grace abundant.  He chose me to be blessed.