Devotionals

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Handling Rejection
© 2006
by

Stephen A Peterson


Recently, a well-known Christian pastor received a letter from 10 year girl seeking his advice. She wanted to know what she could do to get her father to carry a small school picture of her in his billfold. She wrote that her father did carry pictures of her older brother and sister. The brother was described as tall looked like his father and very athletic. Her older sister was said to be very pretty and the apple of her father’s eye. However, the youngest child indicated that she was a little overweight, needed braces and felt lonely in her own home. When she gave her father her school picture, he simply left her picture on top of his bedroom drawer. To this very young girl, she was not good enough to receive her father’s recognition, and it seemed to her—his love. She further wrote that she felt rejected by a father she dearly loved but would not return his lover for her.

The pain of rejection, especially by those we love, is all too red in this world. Open up a newspaper or turn on the television and one may see stories of this rejection ; a wife who leaves her husband for another man because he lacked wealth; a friend who turns on his friend because he failed to go along with stealing from their employer or a child being rejected because she has a developmental disability.

Jesus must have felt a stabbing pain in His heart when everyone He knew abandoned Him just before He died. The hurt must have been unbearable. Think of it! He had no one to talk to. No one who would stand up for Him as He was led from one trial to another. No one would stand up for Him as He was beaten within an inch of His life. No one would stand up for Him as He hanged dying on a cross for 6 hours. Yet in spite of being rejected He asked forgiveness for everyone. When He stated: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” was not just for those who lied about Him, beat and nailed Him to a cross but also for those who denied knowing Him and ran away to hide.

Many today generally say that if they had lived during Jesus’ time, they would never have denied or rejected Him. Really! Today, many who refer to themselves as His followers fall back concerning issues that deal with Jesus Himself. Many Christians deny Christ when they agree to abortion, sexual promiscuity, euthanasia, adultery, homosexuality and make their things more important than their worship of Him what He had to endure on our behalf. Sin, no matter how small, is a nail and a rejection of the Lord whom we say we love.

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