To Be Wanted

 In the deepest parts of all of us, we desire to be wanted. Think back to the schoolyard game of capture the flag. The two captains are divvying up the anticipating middle schoolers one-by-one. The sought after few go first and down the line it goes. Notice even in your own heart what’s happening now, however far removed from middle school you may be. Are you feeling a comical sense of pride for your juking skills, or does being the last one picked still haunt you every now and again? We all desire to be wanted.

I found myself parked by the beach the other evening watching the sunset glimmer off the ocean. Nearly out of nowhere, this ache to be wanted showed up. Unfortunately, for most, we don’t have to search that far back in our memory bank to find an experience that left us feeling unwanted.

There’s a yearning in our hearts to be apart of something. So, it’s no wonder these hurts are commonly found from things like; relationships, friendships, organizations, teams, coaches, families, mentors – just to name a few. My deepest hurts, all left the same residue behind them – a feeling of unwantedness.

I find it interesting that I tend to look everywhere else to be “picked” before thinking of opening God’s Word. Now, friend, stick with me. This is not meant to be a blanket, “but there’s God” post to throw a sloppy band-aid on all our wounds.

But. There is a God. It reminds me of a song by Tenth Avenue North, “By Your Side.” There’s a line that’s spoken from God’s perspective to us, “why are you still looking for love, as if I’m not enough – to where will you go?” And later, God says, “I love you, don’t you know that I love you?”

Scripturally, we’re told, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ Jesus to be holy and without fault in His eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). Friend, God wants you on His team. And maybe it’s been years since you’ve heard this – you are wanted.

And yes, I know, there’s a sense of “yea, but. . .” or “it’s different.” You’re right, it is different – from the world. But if God is real and we believe the Bible to be telling us the Truth, then friends His team is the only team we truly need to be on. Here’s the fun part, “even while we were still sinners God died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God saw us not wanting Him, and He chose to come down to earth to say, “I want you anyway.” Friend, you and I have a choice, do we say yes to the free invitation of being on God’s team or not? He wants you. He picked you. And He went so far to die for you, so that you could simply have a choice.

We all have our own experiences of feeling unwanted in this world. I do not mean to belittle those experiences at all. I do want to encourage us to shift our perspectives just a tad. And you just might find that truly accepting the sacrifice God paid on your behalf could be the thing that breaks the chains of unwantedness and reveals to you – friend – you’ve been wanted by Your Maker since before you were even born. That’s how loved and wanted you are.