Does God have favorites?

I was sitting in a group in my new church, in my new state, when the pastor mentioned that God has favorite people, just like people do. People having favorite people- I get it. God having favorites? God? Having favorite people? People He made?

This idea unsettles me. Deeply.

What hope do those like me have? Little to none.

I'm not a popular person. I know this. I'll never be charming and charismatic. I know this, too. And I can't learn to be, or let myself be. It's not written into my DNA. I can change the way I think. I can change how I treat others and who I associate with. I cannot change who I am at the core. And no one should ever ask me to.

I digress, back to God's favorites.

I understand that God honors some more than others. God blesses some more than others.
This ideas settled on me like a storm cloud. It followed me around and hung right next to me for days. It was always in my thoughts. It became an insistent drum beat.

God has favorites... God has favorites... God has favorites...

I started watching people. Were they one of the favorites? Probably. Why wouldn't they be? They're likable people. Not a weirdo like me.

Then the thought set in. That one that takes you to a new level. The one that destroys everything forever.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. ~Proverbs 139:13
I knew you before I formed you in the womb. ~Jeremiah 1:5a

If God has favorites, and God formed me, then God had no intention of me becoming one of His favorites. God had cursed me to be the person I am.

Simply being myself is my own cross to bear.

This simply can't be true. Where is the hope after your assurance of Heaven? Why trust that God will even allow you there? He can make Heaven for His elite. His chosen. His favorites.

This has comforted me:

As for those who were held in high esteem- whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism... ~Galatians 2:6