I Didn’t Find God—He Found Me First: The truth about being chosen that changes everything

I remember the day, even now.

Not because it was loud or dramatic… but because something shifted inside of me in a way I could not explain.

I was about eight years old, lying on the grass outside my home in Ottawa. It was quiet. Ordinary. Nothing in the natural suggested that this moment would become a marker in my life.

But heaven does not always announce itself the way we expect.

I looked up into the sky, and what caught my attention was something simple, yet deeply unsettling to my understanding at the time—the sun was shining in full strength, and yet the moon was also visible in the daylight.

Two realities… occupying the same space.

And something in me paused.

Not just my thoughts—but something deeper.

Because in that moment, I knew—without being taught, without anyone explaining it to me—that none of this was accidental.

There was order.

There was intention.

There was design.

And more than that… there was Someone behind it all.

The Awakening Before Language

I didn’t have words for it.

I didn’t call it the Holy Spirit.

I didn’t understand what conviction or calling meant.

But I felt something… and it was real.

Looking back now, I can say with clarity—it was the Holy Spirit moving upon me.

Not in a way that overwhelmed me, but in a way that awakened me.

There was a stillness that settled into my spirit, but it wasn’t empty. It was full—full of awareness, full of knowing, full of something that bypassed my understanding but anchored itself deep within me.

And in that moment, something formed inside of me:

My life is not random. I am not here by accident. There is purpose behind all of this… and somehow, I am part of it.

I didn’t understand salvation yet.

I hadn’t confessed Christ as Lord.

But I had encountered something real.

And that encounter marked me.

Chosen Before I Responded

Years later, when I would fully surrender my life to Christ, I began to look back on that moment differently.

What I thought was the beginning… was actually evidence of something that had already begun.

The words of Jeremiah 1:5 began to burn with meaning:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

That day on the grass was not coincidence.

It was introduction.

Not me reaching for God—but God revealing Himself, just enough, to awaken something in me that would carry forward through the years.

And I began to understand something that changed everything:

God does not wait for full understanding to begin His work in a life.

He initiates.

He draws.

He awakens.

Even in a child.

The Drawing That Would Not Leave

Even though years passed before I fully gave my life to Christ, something from that moment stayed with me.

There was a knowing.

Not intellectual—but internal.

A quiet awareness that God was real, that life had meaning, and that I was being drawn toward something greater than myself.

Jesus said in John 6:44:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”

That day, lying on the grass, I was being drawn.

Not pressured.

Not forced.

Drawn.

And that drawing did not fade. It lingered beneath the surface of my life, even in seasons where I did not fully understand it or respond to it.

Because when God begins something, He does not abandon it.

The Weight of Being Chosen

As I walked further with the Lord, I began to understand that what I experienced was not just a moment—it was a marker of calling.

A chosen mandate.

And that realization brought both clarity and weight.

Because being chosen is not about elevation—it is about responsibility.

When I look at Moses, I don’t see a man living in comfort. I see a man interrupted by God and sent into one of the most intense assignments imaginable.

When I look at Jeremiah, I see a life marked before birth, called to speak truth into resistance.

When I look at Paul, I see a man who was completely undone and then rebuilt for divine purpose.

And I realized:

Chosen people are not removed from pressure—they are entrusted within it.

There is a weight to this calling.

Not a burden that crushes… but a weight that anchors.

A weight that says:

Your life is no longer your own in the way it once was.

The Moment I Knew I Was Not My Own

There came a point in my journey where I recognized something deeply:

If I was chosen… then I was not self-owned.

And that realization did not confine me—it freed me.

Freed me from striving.

Freed me from trying to define myself.

Freed me from the fear of missing my purpose.

Because the One who chose me is also the One who leads me.

I was not trying to build something for God.

I was stepping into something He had already prepared.

Chosen to Reflect, Not Perform

For a long time, I believed being chosen meant becoming impressive.

More anointed.

More visible.

More effective.

But the Spirit began to correct that thinking.

I was not chosen to perform.

I was chosen to reflect.

In 1 Peter 2:9, it says:

“You are a chosen generation… that you may proclaim the praises of Him…”

The purpose of being chosen is not self-exaltation.

It is revelation.

To reveal Him.

And that often looks far different than we expect.

Sometimes it looks like quiet obedience.

Sometimes it looks like hidden faithfulness.

Sometimes it looks like choosing integrity when no one is watching.

Even Jesus Christ lived thirty years in hiddenness before stepping into three years of public ministry.

That alone reshapes how we measure significance.

The Hidden Years That Shape the Chosen

There are seasons where being chosen feels invisible.

Where nothing seems to be happening externally.

But everything is being formed internally.

I have walked through those seasons.

Where the noise fades.

Where recognition is absent.

Where all that remains… is Him.

And in those places, something sacred happens.

Identity is formed without applause.

Faith is strengthened without validation.

Love becomes real—not because of what He does, but because of who He is.

Chosen Before I Was Ready

One of the greatest freedoms I discovered is this:

God does not wait for readiness to choose.

He chooses—and then He forms.

When David was chosen, he was still in the field.

When Peter was chosen, he was unstable.

When Gideon was chosen, he was hiding.

This dismantles the lie that says:

“I’ll step into it when I’m ready.”

No—you step into it because you are chosen.

And readiness comes in the walking.

To Carry Him Above All Else

At the center of it all, I have come to understand this:

Being chosen is not first about what I do—it is about who I carry.

His presence.

His nature.

His voice.

Everything else flows from that.

When Abraham was chosen, it began with relationship.

When Moses was chosen, it began with encounter.

When Paul was chosen, it began with revelation.

And now I see clearly:

The chosen are not defined by activity—but by intimacy.

Living Like I Am Chosen

There is a difference between being chosen… and living like it.

One is truth.

The other is response.

To live like I am chosen means I walk differently.

I think differently.

I align differently.

Not out of pressure—but out of identity.

Because when you know who you belong to, everything changes.

DECLARATIONS

I am chosen by God before I was aware of Him. My life is not random—it is divinely initiated. I embrace the calling over my life without fear or hesitation. I do not strive for identity—I live from it. I welcome the process that forms me into His purpose. I will not resist refinement—I receive it. I carry His presence, not just His promise. I walk in alignment with heaven’s design over my life. I release insecurity, doubt, and striving—they have no authority over me. I live as one who is chosen, called, and sent.

Final Reflection

That day on the grass, looking up at the sun and the moon sharing the same sky… I thought I was observing creation.

But in reality… I was being awakened.

God was not just revealing the world to me.

He was revealing Himself.

And in doing so, He was quietly establishing something that would define the rest of my life:

I was known… before I understood. I was called… before I responded. And I was chosen… so that my life would reveal Him.

Peter Nash

Donate at: https://www.freshoil-fire.com/

Warfare Declarations

• I am chosen by God—before time, before doubt, before fear.

• I am not accidental—I am divinely appointed.

• I reject every lie of insignificance—I carry purpose.

• I walk in my calling—I will not shrink back.

• I am known, marked, and set apart by the Spirit of God.

• Fear has no voice—I am led by the Spirit.

• I will not be distracted—I am aligned with heaven.

• I rise above confusion—I walk in clarity and truth.

• I am not delayed—I am positioned.

• I carry His presence—I reveal His nature.

• I move in obedience—without hesitation, without compromise.

• I am chosen, called, and sent—in Jesus’ name.