In life everyone is not going to accept you for who you are, and sometimes won’t accept what you have to offer. Some of us allow that to become a stopping point for us. We sometimes “crawl into a corner” and never try again. Some of us get upset with the world and feel that everyone is going to treat us the same, so why try. However, that is not always the case. If we want to be accepted or have others to accept what we have to offer, we have “to keep on keeping on.” Jesus said in John 15:18 (ESV), “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” Therefore, Jesus prepared us for rejection. It is a fact of life, so we have to prepare ourselves to be ready for it whenever it comes. There is a young lady out there who a young man has wanted to date. He finally gets enough nerve to approach her with a dozen of beautiful red roses and a delicious box of fine chocolates. When he makes that advance, she responds, “How thoughtful of you, but I’m not interested.” Talking about being crushed! She keeps walking, and inside and on his face, he experiences feelings of an emotional letdown. He can do one of two things: let her rejection be his motivation to continue his pursuit of her, or accept her rejection, bow his head in despair, and give up on finding the girl of his dreams. Hey, there’s a “Ruth” somewhere out there just waiting for her “Boaz” to come along! When times such as these come, remember what the Word tells us in Psalm 37:4 (ESV): “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Whenever rejection comes, we have to remember what happened to Jesus as He walked this earth “…about [His] Father’s business.” Ponder these two verses that demonstrate the world’s treatment of Him, yet He continued the “Mission.” Isaiah 53:3 (ESV) affirms, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” In Luke 10:16 (ESV) Jesus warns, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Therefore, when you share the love of Jesus with others, some are going to reject you, but you must be prepared to turn this rejection into motivation to continue witnessing what you have found in His love. Rejection doesn’t have to be the end. It can be the beginning of something greater. Always abound in the faith, and never leave home without Him!
