Chosen (21/8/1)

Verse 1:

I’d prayed and tried so hard

Kept searching in the dark

I'd wept and cried so many tears

My days just felt like years


Verse 2:

My world was bleak and grey

Til You came to light my way

Cos You gently picked me from the fold

And called me as Your own…


Chorus:

I’m Chosen, You redeemed me from the grave

I’m Chosen, a new lease of life you gave

Hope for the future, and joy for the journey

Unmerited favour on me


Bridge:

In my Father’s arms, I’m safe from harm, I’m His favoured son

My joy is sweet, My life’s complete, I'm the chosen one …



-Copyright 2001 Evelyn Tai-


Note: Ok, this is a pretty important song for me, and it'll take some time to explain it....

1. For about a year, I'd been faithfully praying and reading my bible every day, and couldn't feel anything at all; you know how it is, you KNOW God listens, but he keeps really silent.... *ok, so add in some crying before God too (feeling ignored is frustrating ;-))*

2. Then on 19th August 2001 (which also happens to be my mom's birthday), I was leading the tambourine dancers in church during worship, and at the end of worship, my senior pastor suddenly said he had a prophecy for me. I was very surprised.... and it was a great prophecy, full of warnings of danger (which I ignored and had to pay for in later years, although that's another story), and the hope of a spirit-filled destiny. It wasn't just the content of the prophecy, though; the whole point of it was that GOD HAD NOTICED ME! That it wasn't wasted, all the prayers and tears; he HAD heard me, and this was his way of showing it.

3. One last thing the pastor said - he asked if I were studying in the Science stream, and I said yes. And then he asked if I wanted to be a doctor, and I assented, and he said that he 'saw' me as a doctor. I was just 16 then, and struggling with my Science subjects like Add Maths and Physics... I'd barely scraped through my mid-term exams, and kept toying with the idea of dropping out of school. But after that assurance, I was filled with confidence for every exam, even up to the point where I was supposed to come back to school to pick up my STPM results; there was no doubt in my mind that it would be good news, because God had given his promise; I WOULD be a doctor.

And so I wrote the song, Chosen, to express all these thoughts; that God had noticed me, and given me a future, although I really wasn't the most perfect girl around (there were other girls in my church whom I felt God would like better; the ones where, standing beside them, I feel shy because they seem so pure and beautiful compared to myself). The truth is, God chose EACH of us by sending Jesus to die for us on the cross, and when we choose him in return, by choosing to live for him, he gives us a great destiny. God chose us first; but we choose whether we want to follow him, to live as God's children. We choose to be CHOSEN.

-Evelyn-