We all want to be chosen. Chosen for a team. Chosen for a date. Chosen for a scholarship. Chosen for a promotion. You and I will never outgrow our deep longing for people to choose us.

The problem, however, is that “the chosen” are normally people who are good, better, or the best. You have to be a good player or good-looking or good at relationships. You have to be better than the competition, better than the other students, better than the other dating options online. Sometimes you have to be the best applicant, the best at your position, or the best friend to invite out to dinner. And if you’re not, you don’t get chosen. Perhaps you’ve felt the sting of being left out, overlooked, or simply not good enough.

But God isn’t like that. The God who chose a loudmouth named Peter, a demon-possessed woman named Mary, and a tax collector like Matthew is obviously operating by different standards. Our gracious God chooses bad people, picks worse people, and elects the worst of people! That means there is hope for all people, including me and you. Praise God for that!

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).