Have you ever had a moment, a day, a week (if you’re super lucky) where you had the sheepish thought, “I’m God’s favorite kid!” Maybe you brushed it away quickly lest it become some shameful statement of pride, or maybe you haven’t had that thought at all; maybe that thought is so foreign to you that you judge me for admitting that I’ve had several. But I have! And today was no exception. In fact, those moments take me by storm, blow me away, and sweep me off my feet all at the same time.

It usually comes unexpectedly. Most the time it follows a deep season of doubt and fear. Occasionally it lasts for days, but most the time its a moment or two. And it is glorious and beautiful.  It’s like I’m standing in a ballroom, eyes down, watching the toes of my ridiculously bare feet, intently trying to ignore the fact that every other girl is being led away by her prince… when I feel a hand reach for mine.   I look up and He’s there, waiting, and asking me to dance, and suddenly, I feel like the prettiest princess in a long line of beauty queens…and His eyes are set on me.  Can you sense that thrill of acceptance?

Or it’s like I’m the kid at the window of the candy store. I watch as my friends take their money in and buy the treat that they want most, but my hand is empty as are my pockets. I’m left standing there, watching, wishing… when I sense someone beside me; I look and it’s Him. He’s smiling at me and holding out the biggest bag of my most favoritest candy in all the world! It’s too good to be true and yet, it is true; it is my Father! I don’t even look twice at the bag I just grab His waist and hold Him feeling His amazing chest breathing in and out and listen to a heart that beats for me!  In that moment, I could run a marathon, swim the ocean, and scale a mountain! Can you sense that joy?

Or I’m just me – Scarred and hurt, feeling the burden of the world on my shoulders, wondering if I can ever do anything right… when I feel His presence. It’s like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, a moment of hope in a period of dispair. It’s as if all time stands still, everything else goes away, and He is there with me. He looks deeply at me, into me – past my sorrow and my fear to the heart He so obviously created, and He smiles a deep dimpled smile. Can you sense that peace?

He wants you to. He does. God almighty is full of love for His children. He wants to wrap us up and hold us close and assure us that we are His treasure. He delights in us. But too often we are filled with the image that He’s just complacent with us. Or, we disappoint Him but He chose us so He’ll deal with it. Or, maybe you think you are nothing so you don’t even look for those moments as often as He’s tried to share them with you.

Maybe I’m silly, or certifiable, but I will admit to dancing with God. It’s our Father/Daughter time.  We’ve done the jitterbug and we’ve slow danced. I’ve done a clumsy ballet before His throne and I’ve head-banged with Him. Really. And in those moments, where in your eyes I’m dancing slowly around my quiet kitchen with my hands in position, I’m His favorite. I know that if you were to see me you would call “those people.” But what you can’t see that He shows me is that He’s there. He’s brushing away my hair, and wiping away my tears, and He’s letting me rest my weary head upon His shoulder, and He’s there…loving me. I see it. Even if you can’t.

Now, He’s not gonna dance with all of His children. My dear, sweet, manly husband wouldn’t find that thrilling at all!  In fact, he might wonder if someone slipped him a mickey!  But, God knows it means the world to me, and so He meets me, to dance. With Brian, it would be more adventurous and personal, a man to man kind of thing.  Perhaps, He would show him a magnificent deer that is majestic and mighty and give him the perfect shot (and yes, I, with all the other animal lovers, cringe at the thought.) But, that would thrill my husband! God knows this. And in that moment, Brian is likely to feel like His favorite.

Maybe you’ve searched all over the place for that perfect dress/shirt/belt/item of jewelry and you haven’t been able to find it anywhere. It’s a simple thing, but as materialistic as it sounds you want it! Then, a friend says that the Lord laid you on her heart and she wanted to get you something, and she presents to you the very thing that you have been salivating over! You hug your friend; after all, she’s the vessel, and you feel special, don’t you? You barely whisper it but feel it deeply, you’re His favorite.

Maybe you’re nine with a dream of a puppy, and it’s all you can think about!  You would take any old dog you were given but deep down inside what you really hope for is a white chihuahua that you can name Chloe.  It seems impossible, but your Father tells you nothing is impossible so you pray and you believe!  Then a week later your parents find the sweetest puppy you’ve ever seen – she’s perfect.  She’s yours!  You reach out for her, “God gave me Chloe!”  Later that night you weep, listening to her sweet breathing as she lays on a pillow beside you, you smile.  You can’t believe it!  You must be God’s favorite kid!

Maybe your in over your head with bills.  Maybe you have completely given up hope that you will ever get out of the pit.  You pray, unbelieving, unable to even fathom the idea that God might meet that need.  When all of the sudden, out of nowhere in your mail, you find a check.  It’s a money order for a large sum of money and no legible signature, but on the side where you usually find the reason for the money spent, there are three words that take you to your knees – “God loves you!”  You cry and you clutch that money to your chest and you know that He heard you, and you find within that moment the love that says, “You are His favorite!”

You ARE His favorite! I can say that with absolute belief and trust because it’s true. You may say, “How can everyone be His favorite!” Well, we all, each and every twenty nine thousand billion of us, hold a special place in His heart! He thinks about us, works on our behalf, pays intimate attention to every detail of our lives because He loves us! It’s why He chose us! He calls us each by name. Now, it’s true; you may share the same name with someone in the world, but you are more than a name to Him. You are a face with freckles or a scar that He knows, He traces. You are a head of hair that is graying or colored or receding. You are an eye that is speckled or ridged or blue or green or grey or hazel and made up of so many shades of color even the the girl at the Clinique counter can’t label you! But He knows exactly what and who and how you are…every single part of you. Nothing has gone without His attention, even that imperfection you so desperately try to hide, He loves it! To Him it’s you. It tells a story or it emphasizes your character … it’s unique and beautiful. It’s probably His favorite part about you!

I could go on and on about His loving attention to detail. I could tell you story after story about Him being personal and intentional and intimate to meet His precious children where they need or want to be met most. But, it would mean more if you’d just let Him tell you. If you’d just take a moment and believe that what I’ve said, what He’s said over and over through His Word, is true! You are everything to Him! Everything you are and have and want and need is exactly what He lives for, not as a genie in a bottle, an easily manipulated parent that doesn’t know when to say no…but as a loving Father that longs to do good for His children. Embrace it, live it and share it – You’re God’s favorite kid! 🙂