Undeserving, Yet Chosen

Have you ever received big news, good, exciting, life-stopping news, and felt shocked and overjoyed at the same time, but because there were people around you, you didn't quite know what to do with yourself?

That was me recently.

I decided to take a walk. I needed air. I needed to be alone with it, to let the news find its proper place inside me. And as I strolled, I found myself mumbling quietly, "Thank you, Lord." Then silence. A few seconds of just walking and breathing while the reality of what had happened began to dawn on me.

And then, almost without thinking, I said it: "God, what have I done to deserve this?"

Eight words. And the moment they left my mouth, I felt it: a gut check from the Holy Spirit. A gentle but firm nudge, like a hand on my shoulder, saying: look at what you just said.

Because buried inside that question was a belief I didn't even know I was still carrying. The idea that God's favor has to be earned. That His mercy is something you qualify for. That His love is a reward for performance. And in those few quiet seconds on that walk, the Holy Spirit gently dismantled that thinking at the root.

That is the entire point of grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it plainly: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." We don't deserve it. We can't. There is nothing we could ever do to make ourselves worthy of God's love, and that is not a tragedy. That is the miracle. It is God, in His own mercy, who chooses to look upon a person. Not because of what they've done, but because of who He is, His love and what He's determined to do through them.

So I corrected myself. I said, "Lord, I know I didn't do anything to deserve this. I know there's nothing I could have done to earn it. But the fact that You looked at me, at all of my history, all of my insufficiency, and still decided to bless me this way... all I can say is thank you."

And that was enough.

I wonder if you've been there too. Those moments where the goodness of God feels almost too big for you to hold, not because you doubt Him, but because you're not sure you're the right person to receive it. I want to gently push back on that thought today.

You're right, you are not worthy. Neither am I. But you know what, God is, and that is enough. Romans 5:8 reminds us that "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Not after we cleaned ourselves up, not once we have it together. While we were still a work in progress, He had already decided we were worth it. His grace, His mercy, and His love made a way that worthiness alone never could.

So don't question the blessing. Don't shrink back from it. Don't talk yourself out of what God has clearly decided to place in your hands.

Receive it. Because though you may not feel deserving, God says you are chosen, and that is the only word that matters.