Have you ever been swept up into an activity that was not of your choosing?

Perhaps your boss selected you to head a project at work that you never volunteered to do. Or maybe a teacher picked you out of many students to report in front of the class, or maybe your church elected you to a position you did not opt for, or maybe no one else was willing to take the lead for a worthy cause, step up to the plate and take initiative, so you felt morally compelled to act?

There are many times in life we are chosen, either specifically or inadvertently, to fulfill roles we never foresaw ourselves doing.

Sometimes we might wonder why we’ve been chosen for a particular job and do it with joy anyway, and other times we may severely regret being the chosen one and grumble and complain along the way.

There are many jobs big and small I’ve been chosen to do over the years, and I usually do them with joy and gratitude. But there’s one job—my career—that I had never thought of as being “chosen for,” until I studied these words of Jesus Christ,

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit…”

Whoa! I exalted when the full meaning of these words sunk in. Much of my life suddenly came into clear focus.

As many of you already know from my previous blogs, it was a confusing journey, a mighty struggle at times, and ultimately victory over paralyzing fears that finally planted me into the full-time ministry of Christian Science.

I had never thought of myself as being chosen for this work. It seemed more the outcome of my own reasoning, figuring out what I wanted to do with my life and then following through as my confidence and trust in God’s care grew.

But in light of Jesus’ words, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…” I realized that I was never in control of my destiny at all. I had been chosen to see the spiritual truth about others, reflect that spiritual truth and be a healing influence.

To review, I knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved with a healing ministry, but I had never considered the reason why I was so compelled to do so. In light of “being chosen,” I began to see that it was a choice made by a power outside of myself.

Looking back now, I can now see a whole current of events sweeping me toward the practice that I had no control over. When I stood in ignorance or didn’t realize the larger forces at work, I felt lost, confused, unsure, and even doubted my future. But once the right idea got clearer in my mind, and I took steps to get my human activity into congruence with where God had chosen me to go, the direction of my life started to fall into line and greater dominion took over.

So I’ve realized that it was not my choice to do this work. I was chosen to do it—by my divine Creator! As the mouth of God on earth said, “I have chosen you.”

It is empowering to be chosen.

For instance, think of a time in your life when someone you highly looked up to chose you to fulfill a need they saw as necessary to accomplish? Didn’t you feel special? Didn’t it make you feel good that they had confidence and trust in you to do the job right, and that’s why you were selected? It is. It’s incredibly empowering. It gives you confidence that you can do the job and follow through with success.

And to be chosen by your Creator is the most powerful position you can ever occupy. It means God will back you up and give you freely what you need to succeed. Now that is empowering!!

More tomorrow…

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 15:15,16