The One Who Chose Us

C.S. Lewis once wrote that, “There are only two ways to live your life – One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.” I remember reading that quote at a young age and sincerely taking it to heart. It was good for me to endeavor to view everything as a miracle from God. It helped me keep a positive attitude and taught me to learn the beauty of being grateful for all things, even the seemingly simple and mundane.

My southern Baptist raised mind was very confounded, however, when it came to reading about the miracles in the Bible. I have had some skepticism regarding the subject, to be honest. I fully believed that all of those signs, wonders, and miracles happened back in those days. But when it came to those types of miracles happening in our modern day, I cannot deny that I carried skepticism about it. It is not that I did not believe that God can do these things in our modern day and time, but it just did not seem like He performs miracles like that nowadays. While I still did believe in miracles, modern day miracles seemed to be much more of the ordinary variety – small, simple miracles, in ordinary circumstances. Those are still wonderful, but not very similar to those Biblical miracles.

My mindset on this subject radically changed when I came to the Hope Center for Women and became a part of Breath of Life Ministries. I quickly found that I began encountering God like I never have before. When you are liming among and interacting with people who are being fully led by the Spirit of God, it changes your perspective drastically. When you do life with Spirit-led people, radical encounters with God are the norm....healings take place....miracles happen.

Awhile back, our church and our community got to celebrate the healing of a woman who had cancer. Whenever a healing takes place, my mind drifts to this beautiful little girl in our church. G is five years old. She has a disease of some sort that among causing a plethora of health/developmental issues, currently renders her unable to walk or speak. She is very beloved in our church and we are all believing and expecting that God will perform a healing miracle in her life.

I remember learning awhile back that G’s Daddy is not her biological father, but has chosen to be her Daddy ever since she was just a baby. As a child who was adopted, this resonated in my heart strongly and I think it's wonderful. But really, I was surprised to learn that her Daddy is not this little girl's biological father….because to me, she looks just like him. I remember saying to the girls at one point in time, “She looks like the one who chose her.” As I heard myself speak those words, I knew they weren’t mine. I knew it was God.

I was always told throughout my years growing up that I was chosen. My biological mother was a drug addict when she became pregnant with me. The identity of my biological father went undetermined. My biological mother chose to give me up for adoption, rather than taking what would have likely been an easier course of action for her, giving her lifestyle at that time, and having an abortion. I was adopted as a baby by a couple, the people that chose to be my parents and raise me and call me their own. My parents were always open about the fact that I was adopted and not blood related to them. Most likely because it was clearly evident that I was not born to my adopted mother – she was Japanese. No part of me looks Japanese – it was obvious knowledge that I was not my adopted mother’s biological child. My parents actually attempted to glorify it and make it seem like something really special – that they chose me, they didn’t just have me, so I wouldn't feel different from all the rest of the kids.

There is something about those years that still fascinates me to this day. Over the years, I grew to look more and more like my Daddy, physically. I ended up looking an awful lot like him as I grew up, actually. My Nana (my Daddy’s Mom), had these large prints of his high school graduation photo and my high school graduation photo hung side by side in frames in her family room. The physical resemblance between us was remarkable and unmistakable.

My Daddy chose me. There was no blood relation between us. In all actuality, we were only related on paper….and I looked so much like him. G’s Daddy chose her and chooses to be her Daddy….and she looks so much like him. I look like the Daddy who chose me. G looks like the Daddy who chooses her. Both things are miracles to me….grace gifts from God. They’re so beautiful to me because it reminds me of how God chooses us….He chooses to love us, accepts us into His family, and chooses to call us His own.

We go through a lot of fires in this life. They come in a wide variety of forms, including diseases, strongholds, losses, addictions, problems, and countless other things. But when we choose Jesus and choose to receive Him, we are chosen by Him and accepted as God’s own child. And because we are chosen, He loves us too much to leave us as we are. That is why G is going to get her healing miracle someday soon. That is why my life is going to be different than what it once was. When we choose Him, He chooses us and He recreates us. He keeps walking with us through the fires, using every fire to refine us and purify us....to make us look more like Him. As we go through this process that is really hard to trust sometimes, we become more and more like Him. We were created in the image of a God who is faithful to finish the work He begins in us….and as time goes on, we will grow to look like the One who chose us.

We will grow to look like the One who chose us.

Take courage my heart, stay steadfast my soul…..He’s in the waiting.

Hold on to your hope, watch your triumph unfold…..He’s never-failing.

He’s in the waiting.

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