Rejection

Rejection. We all face it at some time in our lives. It can begin as children, when, rightly or wrongly, a child can feel that they are not as loved by a parent as their siblings. It can certainly happen in schools where friendships can be fickle and some children feel as though they are on the outer in the peer group for their entire school lives.

As a person progresses to adult life one can feel rejected in the workforce. The job application is turned down, sometimes dozens of times. Someone else receives the promotion that you hoped for. You are retrenched in a company reorganization.

Some of the most distressing forms of rejection happen in the sphere of personal relationships. A love affair that you thought would lead to marriage and a permanent relationship ends. Your partner in your marriage admits to an extra-marital affair. A divorce leaves a person shattered.

The core of rejection is a feeling of unworthiness. I’m not good enough. Someone else is preferred. Satan, the father of lies, whose ultimate goal is to destroy a person works on those thoughts to destroy families, marriages, friendships and sadly, in some cases, ministries and churches.

Rejection can enter one’s spiritual life as well. Disappointments and struggles with sin can cause a person to feel that God has rejected them. This could not be further from the truth.

We need to look to God’s word to know how he feels about each one of us. The Bible tells us that even before we were born, God thought of us and created us to be the individual human that we are.

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. “Psalm139: 13-16

 

Whenever we feel rejected, God’s word assures us that He has not rejected us:

I have chosen and not rejected you.

Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;

I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness. Isaiah 41:9,10

 

Throughout the Bible we are assured that God’s love is different to the ways of people. His love is constant, steadfast and faithful:

 

“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!” Psalm 36:7

 

“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.” Psalm 107:43

 

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 117:1,2”

 

When you are a Christian, despite the rejections that you face in life, God will never reject you. He is your Saviour, your closest friend your heavenly Father. In fact, you are part of His bride, the true church of all believers, and as such loved as a true partner should be in a marriage. His word tells us that He has a plan for every life, so if our earthly plans fail, we can trust in His Holy Spirit, the great Counsellor to lead and guide us into a new direction.

 

“Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;

break forth in song, O mountains!

For the LORD has comforted His people,

and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

the Lord has forgotten me!”

 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the son of her womb?

Even if she could forget,

Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

your walls are ever before Me.”   Isaiah 49:13-16

 

Go on your way

“I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

9“Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

11And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

13But as for you, go on your way until the end. You will rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”   Daniel 12:8-13

 

We move into a new year, 2024, and many of us will have made resolutions to change habits, or try new things. Yet for the most we will be continuing what we have been attending to in the previous year. This is not a bad thing if we have a sense of purpose or duty and responsibility in whatever sphere we are called to in life.

Those of us who are committed Christians will continue to read and study God’s word and to try to live it out. We also are attentive to the world in which we live and the many major events happening throughout this Earth.

Some people I know are fearful for the future. Some refuse to watch the nightly news. Some are experiencing compassion fatigue – tragedies and difficulties in daily life can be overwhelming. That is why a firm foundation in Christ is the only hope on which we can stand. Hope does not lie in political parties or social justice activism or protest movements per se (although Christians can seek to bring Christ’s message into these arenas) but in faith in God and the active work of His Holy Spirit in this world.

Throughout the Bible prophets declared momentous events which would transpire in the future. No fantasy movie this, but a genuine battle in earthly and spiritual realms between good and evil. We can choose which side we’re on. As is recorded in the above passage from the book of Daniel, many will come to believe in God and trust Him, but wicked people will continue to act wickedly. The book of Revelation declares that people become so wicked that despite apocalyptic events, they refuse to repent and turn to Christ.

To those of us committed to Christ, God says stand firm. Don’t fall away. Continue in prayer, fellowship and study of God’s word. Continue to use whatever gifts, talents and resources He has equipped you with. Go on your way until the end.

For those who are yet to become Christians, I’ve reprinted two regular reprints here- The Gospel and How do I become a Christian?

May God bless anyone visiting here and encourage you throughout 2024.

 

 

 

The Gospel / How do I become a Christian? (Reprinted periodically)

 The Gospel

In the beginning, God, (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, including the first man, Adam and the first woman, Eve. God created humans to live in relationship with Him, but gave them free will to either obey Him or be disobedient. Satan, the devil, whom the Bible identifies as a fallen angel, tempted Eve to sin by disobeying God and she in turn tempted Adam to also disobey God. For their disobedience Adam and Eve were cursed and through them, every living human is born sinful.

 

Yet throughout history there have been men and women who sought after God. Humanity became so depraved that God destroyed the earth with a global flood, but saved Noah and his family. Through Abraham and his descendents, God established the nation of Israel, who would be God’s favoured people. Moses led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and received the Ten Commandments and many laws of conduct. Because of the sinful nature of man, these laws were not kept, and a system of animal sacrifices was instituted to make atonement for their sins. However, the people both individually and as a nation continued in a cycle of falling away from God and returning to Him.

 

During the history of the nation of Israel there were prophets who foretold that a Saviour would be born, to save humanity from its sinfulness. Their prophecies were fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Jesus is the Son of God, the third person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). He was sent to this earth and lived amongst us as a human, without losing His divine nature. In all things Jesus honoured and obeyed His Father, God. During His ministry on earth, Jesus performed many miracles and taught us regarding God’s nature and way of living. He was tempted by Satan but was without sin. He travelled with a group of disciples who were the foundation of the church – God’s people on earth.

 

In the same way that animals had been sacrificed to make atonement for man’s sin, it was the purpose of God to send Jesus to earth to become a total sacrifice, once and for all time, for fallen humanity. As was His destiny, Jesus was arrested, tried for heresy and crucified on a hill outside Jerusalem called Calvary. At the time of Christ’s death the curtain in the Jewish temple was torn apart, symbolising that the old system of God only being able to be approached by certain people and in certain places, was finished.

 

Now all could come into right relationship with God through the shed blood of Jesus, by committing their lives to him in repentance and faith.

 

The Bible tells us that Jesus descended into hell and has total dominion over Satan and evil. On the third day Christ rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and many others on earth. He gave his disciples the “great commission” to go into all nations and preach the gospel. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven.

 

After Jesus ascended to heaven, God sent the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to the earth at Pentecost (ten days after Jesus’ ascension). The Holy Spirit is not only alive in the world, but indwells in those who have committed themselves wholly to God and gives such attributes as comfort, counsel, power and discernment.

 

The Bible tells of spiritual battles between good and evil in both earthly and heavenly realms. It includes indications of great tribulation yet to come. We are told that Christ will return to this earth, the second coming, when He will defeat the evil forces raging in the world and will judge the living and the dead.

 

We who have committed our lives to Christ still struggle in our humanity with temptation to sin, and must choose daily to live in obedience to His will. We grow in our faith through prayer, study and reflection of God’s word, the Bible; and by meeting regularly in fellowship with other Christians.

 

 

How do I become a Christian?

 

The Bible tells us that there is only one way to relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ:

“Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. John 14:5-6

 

To become a Christian, you need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,  that He died on the cross to honour God and for the forgiveness of sin and that He rose again and ascended to His Father God.

 

You also need to admit or confess that you are a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness through Christ.

 

You then need to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Just as a wedding ceremony begins a marriage, so a prayer of confession and faith can begin, but is just the beginning, of a relationship with God. An ongoing relationship includes learning about God through Bible study; conversations with God through prayer, and encouragement through Christian fellowship in a caring church.

The following is a prayer which could be used to begin this relationship. You may wish to pray it alone, personally, or you may wish to discuss your decision with a Christian friend or pastor first to fully understand:

 

Dear Heavenly Father God,

I come before You acknowledging You as the only one God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank You for revealing Yourself to me. Thank You, Father God, for sending Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, honouring You and making a way for sinful people to come back into relationship with You. I acknowledge that I am a sinner. Please forgive my sin and cleanse me I pray. I receive Jesus Christ into my life to be my Lord and Saviour for the rest of my days. May You give me strength through the power of the Holy Spirit to live my life as a Christian. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Amen

 

May God bless you with an ever-increasing knowledge of His wonderful presence and endless love as you continue to seek and serve Him.