Pick Me! Pick Me!

Remember grade school P.E. class?  On days the teacher had not prepared anything more productive to do he or she would choose two team captains for some sport--any sport-- and they would begin the process of picking a team, one... at... a... time.   Back and forth they would go until all classmates were chosen.  Now I wasn't very athletic in grade school so I was always picked last.  Didn't matter what game it was.  Didn't matter who the captain was. I was the last one chosen. It was horrible.  Terribly painful.  With each "pick"  I would feel the sting of rejection over and over again and I knew I'd be last.  They didn't want me.  I couldn't kick, run, dribble, steal, slide, throw or catch.  I was last.  Chosen?  Not!

Now this next line is gonna sound contradictory but stick with me.

I had an extremely wonderful childhood and turned out to be a teenager and adult with a great deal of confidence.

"What?" you say!   "How?  But you just said..."

I know.

See, in P.E. things were hard but at home things were great.  I had exceptional parents.  The kind of parents every little girl or boy should have.  They loved me unconditionally and they told me so....often.  My dad, in particular, was highly instrumental in providing me with a strong confidence in who I was.  He hugged me daily.  He told me he loved me every day.  He spent time with me.  He encouraged me.  He gave me lots of "atta girls!"  He told me I was beautiful.  He forgave me when I was wrong.  I knew my daddy would always be there for me.  So, although it would hurt to be the last one chosen to play a sport I knew ultimately that my daddy would choose me on any given day and that I could run home to his open arms and he would wrap me up and make me feel like the most important person in the world.

That was then.  A lifetime ago, right?

What about now?  Well, even now I can still feel that painful "unchosen" jab.  Oh, the grade school thing?  That was nothing compared to the grown up kind of brush off.  No, there are new opportunities to feel the pain of rejection as an adult.  Have you felt it?  A dear friend who suddenly stops returning your calls forever.  A ministry leader who favors another.  A boss who passes you over repeatedly for that promotion.  A sibling or a spouse who choose their needs over yours.  A parent who chooses alcohol or drugs over you.  A child who runs away.  A phone call:  "I'm sorry.  We are unable to use you at this time." 

The cold shoulder.  Dismissal.  Elimination.  Exclusion.  Kick in teeth.  Pass.  Renunciation. Repudiation.  Slap in the face.  Stab in the back.  Punch in the gut. The ol' thumbs down, turndown, veto.....of you.

Don't take it personally?  Are you kidding?  It IS personal.  It's very personal.

I'm married now and live in my own house with my husband and two daughters.  My daddy doesn't live with me anymore.

So what do I do now with life's rejection moments?  Life's unchosen seasons?

Over the last several years I've felt that familiar burn of rejection repeatedly and it began to really devastate me.  I felt valueless and unwanted deep down in my soul.  I wanted to cry out, "Pick me!  Pick me!  Somebody!  Anybody!  Please pick me!"  The feelings of being denied over and over again plagued me and I was losing my confidence at a rapid pace. 

But recently I've been learning what I've been doing wrong in the face of this lack of approval.  I forgot where to run and Who to run to.

I run home to my Daddy. My Abba Father.  No matter who doesn't choose me on any given day I know of Someone who "chose me before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:4)

I AM CHOSEN.  Period.  Chosen by the Creator of the universe!  Chosen!  Me!  Chosen by a Holy and perfect God!  Chosen by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  Chosen by His Majesty, King Jesus! 

I don't have to stand on a field or court or stage or at home or work or church or in friendship or any circle anywhere and wonder if I'll be picked last ever again.  God Chose me.  He chose me before the foundation of the world and He continues to chose me every day.  He chose me before I ever chose Him.

When Satan tempts me to feel less than hand-picked I rub his scrawny little nose in this Truth:  "So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? "   Romans 8:30 (The Message)

Here are a few more "Chosen" verses for your battle with "Pick me, Pick me syndrome".  Its the only thing that will truly cure.  Run to Daddy.  Run to His Word.

He Chose you!

"For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure."
Deuteronomy 7:5-7

"What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance."
Psalm 33:11-13

"...you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones."
Psalm 105:5-7

"I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you."
Isaiah 41:8-10

"And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world —from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven."
Matthew 24:30-32

"You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you."
John 15:15-17

“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth."  Acts 22:13-15

"And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory."  Romans 8:29-31

"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 3:11-13

"But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."  1 Peter 2:8-10