God’s love isn’t a full-time job.

2 Thessalonians 2:13
“But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”

Some of us are lucky to not have to know what it feels like to be picked last in P.E. class. I, unfortunately, have that experience (and many others) engrained deeply into every atom of my body. Since I was a child, I have struggled with someone picking me; whether it be my mother, my father, my friends, my crushes, my teachers; the list is probably 50 items long. No one Earth-side ever chooses me. And after my last failed situationship, that was the thought that kept circulating in my mind: I am not good enough. No one could ever choose me. No one will ever choose me. I’m broken.

And my prayers reflected that. “God, why am I broken? Why can’t anyone choose me? Why do people always leave?” I stayed up every night attempting to negotiate my way into a relationship, a friendship, a something. The nights were quiet, but it was clear God was not granting those prayers. The answer wasn’t forcing another person to choose me and stay—people always leave. But, do you know who doesn’t? You guessed it: God. And that was always the whole point. 

God has known us since we took my first breath. God, the all-knowing, omnipresent God, has known our entire past, our entire present, and He is the only one that knows our future. God knows all of the mistakes we’ve made, every bad thought we have ever held, and he knows how we will fall short of His glory in the future. Yet, everyday he still chooses us. “I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you: You are my servant; I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.” (Isaiah 41:9 CSB). The people in my life only knew pieces of me, and they still chose to walk away. God knows every piece of me, and He has never changed His mind. He has made it explicitly clear, even during my midnight prayers begging the Lord for someone to love me. I do love you. And I will love you. “Because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations instead of your life.” (Isaiah 43:4). 

I spent years believing I had to earn being chosen because people made me feel disposable. God chose me while knowing everything about me, and His choosing isn’t something I have to earn. There’s nothing I need to do for God to choose me; He already has.