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But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. Acts 9:15

Last night, I watched the first round of the National Football League (NFL) draft, the annual event where teams choose from a selection of carefully vetted college players to add to their respective rosters. Broadcast live from Cleveland, this year’s draft was a highly entertaining affair. I loved everything about it: the stage design, the graphics, the commentary was all first class. I particularly enjoyed watching the backstory behind each player being considered, and especially the reaction of the player’s family when it was announced that they had been chosen.

For both the teams and the players, the stakes are huge. For the team, making the right choice can lead to the Super Bowl—and all of the money, prestige, and opportunity that goes along with winning it. For the players, being chosen (especially in the first round) can mean generational wealth (which is the why the players’s extended family watches the draft—and is usually more excited than the player when they are selected LOL). But whether choosing or being chosen, the NFL draft provides an interesting case study on the dynamics of choice.

All of the pageantry of the affair aside, I was curious to know the historical data of how many of the players who get drafted in the first round become successful (defined either by making the team, becoming an impact player or by winning a Super Bowl). My suspicions were confirmed. According to one study, (and confirmed by several others), the majority of first round draft picks wind up going bust. Here’s a stark and unsettling truth: the best players are rarely selected in the first round. In fact (and you knew this was coming), the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time-defined by Super Bowls won) is Tom Brady. He has 7 Super Bowl rings-the most, EVER. And he wasn’t selected until the sixth round (of the 2000 draft). That means 32 teams decided not to choose him 5 times!

All of this raises two questions:

1. How can so many people who look so promising fail to reach their potential?

2. How can so many smart, well paid people (the professionals who decide which players to pick) make such bad choices?

Let’s examine the second question today. (I’ll work on the first question for next week)

Here are two reasons (there are many others) why smart, well paid people make bad decisions:

1. Smart, well paid people make bad choices because no matter how smart or well paid you are, none of us are omniscient. Human beings are imperfect, and sometimes we are just plain wrong.

2. Smart, well paid people make bad choices also because they employ the wrong criteria in their decision-making process.

As I listened to the commentators opine on why a particular player was being chosen, it was primarily about the person’s previous success. They had demonstrated this skill, had broken that record or won this title. And that my friends, may be the problem. I am beginning to think that failure at one stage might be a better predictor of success at another stage. It seems to me that’s how God chooses. I read once that God doesn’t choose the qualified. God qualifies the chosen.

The best example of this is the Apostle Paul. You would think that he would be the least likely individual to be chosen by God to carry the message of Christianity to the nations of the world in the early years of the church. Paul began his career hating Christians and persecuting the church. When he first accepted Christianity, the earliest disciples (who had been handpicked by Jesus) were slow and in most cases reluctant to accept him. Even Ananias, the man who was selected to tell Paul of the crucial role he would play in redemption history hesitated when God gave him his assignment. Ananias could not believe that God would chose someone like Paul. Well, the Biblical evidence suggests that God always chooses someone like Paul. God always chooses the left out, the looked over, and the left out. Probably based on his own experience, Paul would later write this:

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

God chooses foolish things, weak things, lowly things, despised things and “no” things to achieve his purposes.

It is very easy to get down on yourself when you are not chosen for a job, a role, a date, or an opportunity. This feeling can get drastically worse when you try hard but still fail.But instead of making you feel bad, those experiences should make you feel glad. It’s a sign that God has chosen you for some purpose that will soon be revealed.

God sees what everyone else can’t see.