[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during February 2021]
Psychologists tell us that one of the biggest fears that most people have is that of being rejected or excluded involuntarily. We can feel various degrees of rejection: minor events such as a cat that rebuffs your attempts to be friends ranging to more serious situations such as solitary confinement in a nursing home. No less real is perceived rejection when we think that we are being rejected but the rejector is unaware of any problem.
Rejection is not just a passive sentiment, where we are on the receiving end. It can be due to an action or inaction on our part. There might be some valid reason for rejecting something but there is also the danger of falling into the subconscious habit of rejecting some people without due consideration.
Rejection can have a more sinister counterpart in the form of resentment. In the early years of the 20th century a young artist in Vienna was rejected by the largely Jewish art community of the time. The artist’s name was Adolf Hitler and the resentment that he felt had far reaching consequences for the whole world. It was with good reason that Paul wrote “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry“.
Have you ever tried to talk about your faith or explain the way of salvation, only to have it rejected out of hand? It can be uncomfortable but if you have delivered the message faithfully and to the best of your ability then you are not responsible for the reaction of the hearer. It might help if you remember that they are rejecting the message, not necessarily the messenger.
Rejection of their message was a frequent experience for many of the Old Testament prophets. Time after time we read that the kings of Israel rejected their advice and did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the nation suffered. This verse sums up what happened:
But they kept mocking the messengers of God and despising His words and scoffing at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy or healing. [2 Chronicles 36 v16 AMP]
The prophet Jonah was, perhaps, an exception in that he wanted to reject the people to whom he was sent; when they responded to his message he grew so resentful that he wanted to die. Then the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?” Maybe there are times when it would appropriate to ask ourselves the same question.
So, are you feeling rejected? You are in good company! Take the time to reflect on these familiar words from Isaiah:
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. … But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
[Isaiah 53 v3,5 NIVUK]
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
