YOU WERE CHOSEN IN THE DARK

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In a world that is drawn to the spotlight, we always want to be chosen. We learn to perform, to polish our resumes, to display our strengths, and to hide our weaknesses. We learn that being chosen is a reward for being seen.

But God does not choose like we do. His gaze is not drawn to the stage, to the spotlight, or to the polished performance. His gaze penetrates the shadows. He doesn’t choose based on the potential people can see; He chooses based on the sacred purpose He has already placed deep inside of you.

Before anyone saw greatness in you—He did. Before you were cleaned up, fixed up, or prayed up—He chose you. This is the beautiful, revolutionary mystery of being chosen by God. And it is confirmed in His own Word:

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9)

You may be tempted to believe that your calling began the day someone finally recognized you. The day you got the position, the promotion, the platform. The day people started to notice.

But that is not where your story began. Your true calling, your divine selection, did not happen under the bright lights of a stage. It happened in the shadows. It was sealed in the quiet of your obscurity, in the silence of your waiting, in the lonely tears you thought no one saw. When nobody clapped, when nobody noticed, when you felt utterly invisible to the world—that is the sacred space where God drew near and whispered, “You’re the one.”

This is the promise of God Himself, spoken to the prophet Jeremiah and echoed into your own spirit today:

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

You were chosen while you were still hidden. Your value was assigned before you ever had a chance to prove it. You do not need the validation of a spotlight to be valuable. You just need to remember the one who called your name in the dark.

Let’s be honest: your anointing, your unique purpose, did not come cheap. It was not handed to you in a pristine package. It was forged. It was forged in the fire of heartbreak that stole your breath. It was forged in the crushing loneliness that felt like a physical weight. It was forged in the seasons of anxiety and despair where you didn’t think you would survive to see the morning light.

And yet—you are still here. Why?

Because the very things that the enemy meant to destroy you, only revealed the true you. The fire that was meant to consume you only burned away what was temporary, leaving behind an unbreakable, resilient spirit, purified by grace. As the Apostle Paul, a man well-acquainted with suffering, wrote:

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

Your pain did not disqualify you. It prepared you. Your scars are not signs of your weakness; they are maps of your survival. They make you a threat to the kingdom of darkness because you are living proof that what is broken can be made whole, that what is dead can be brought to life. You are dangerous because you know the God who walks through the fire.

Perhaps the greatest lie we believe is that we must feel ready to be used by God. We look at our flaws, our pasts, and our insecurities, and we disqualify ourselves.

Moses stuttered. David was the overlooked shepherd boy who became an adulterer. Esther was an orphan in a foreign land. Paul was a murderer of the very Christians he would later serve. The Bible is not a story of perfect people. It is the story of a perfect God who delights in using surrendered, imperfect people.

Is your story messy? Good. That makes you qualified.
Is your past complicated? Good. That makes you relatable.
Are you acutely aware of your weakness? Good. That makes you powerful.

Your mess is your message. Your testimony is born from your tests. God intentionally bypasses the self-assured and the seemingly qualified to display His power in the most unlikely vessels.

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are not second best. You were handpicked, by the God of the universe, for this exact generation.

Right now, let this truth settle deep into your spirit. Let it be the voice that silences every other voice of condemnation or fear:

You are not forgotten.
You are not too broken.
You are not too late.
You are not what they called you.
You are not what you lost.

You. Are. Chosen.

Chosen to rise again.
Chosen to break generational cycles.
Chosen to lead with compassion.
Chosen to speak life into dead and dark places.

You were chosen—on purpose, for a purpose.

Maybe you’ve been running from this calling. Not because you don’t believe in God, but because, if you’re honest, you don’t quite believe in yourself. You see the flaws, you remember the failures, and you think God must have made a mistake.

But today, your Father is reminding you:

“I didn’t make a mistake when I called you. I saw your flaws, and I still picked you. I saw your weaknesses, and I still sent you. My strength is made perfect in them.”

So come home. Not to a building, not to a religion, but to the unshakeable truth of who you are in Him. Your identity is not up for debate.

You were chosen in the dark. And now, it’s your time to shine.