The older I get the more I think about my youth.  I don’t think that it is that way for everyone, but I would like to think it is.

One of my happy thoughts is “recess”.  I particularly like thinking about that during those long days at work when you look outside and the sun is shinning and chances are you wont get off work until dark!  As I think about recess, I think about running with my friends, the merry-go-round and kickball.

Now you might not know it but I lack the “coordination gene” 🙂 .  As a result, I was often the last person picked or was down to that point where it was me and the other, “not so talented” ball player and some one was going “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe . .” , hey that might have even been you picking the teams or you standing there beside me.  It wasnt that I did not know how to play or that I didnt want to play.  Truth is, I wanted to play sooo bad.  I wanted to be so good I was the one that the picker fought over to select first.  At lease in my mind I was.   But the reality was quite different.  I was often the last picked.

Now I would love to say that was no big deal, but the truth is, it hurt.  Still kinda hurts 🙂 No one was trying to be mean, all those guys were my friends and we spent many a school days in good friendship.  They just knew that I would be better for them if I was on the other team.

Ever feel that way about life, your job, church, or even God?  I do.

Our church has a very strong focus on church planting (starting new churches), and as such is always looking at young leaders to train up and send out.  This last week, the pastor announced a new plant would be going out next summer, and as he showed the slides of the new leader, his family and began discussing what families God was already drawing to the new work.  My heart broke. I felt like that kid on the playground . . . last picked.  I wondered if I would ever be selected to play a leading role on God’s team.  I mean, I have the education, years of following God, even endurance through hardships, yet I still feel sidelined, jumping up and down, crying out “Pick Me, Pick Me!”.

It took a bit of prayer and quiet time for me refocus.  I don’t know what lies ahead this year, but I take comfort in knowing, that while I may not get picked for the whats going on right now, I am already on God’s team, and that place is secure for me.  No measure of talent or coordination required.

1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

As you go through this year, remember that while things may not go the way you want them and you sometimes are not picked for that job, promotion or opportunity, God has chosen you. If you have accepted Christ, You are His!  You have a place and it is secure, kept by His power.  Hold on and keep pressing on.