Coping With Rejection

He came unto His  own, and His own did not receive Him.
John 1:11
The Apostle John

     Often when people think of Jesus, they think of the man who was Mr. Popular. Because He worked miracles, and because He spoke with such authority that people found His speech irresistible or challenging. The bible talks of how that crowds followed him.  All of this is true; however, it is not the whole story.

     For example, when John opened his gospel he talked about Jesus ( The Word) being with God in creation, and he talked about how that nothing was made that was made without Jesus being involved in it.  Then he tells us something like, and though all things were made by Him, He came unto His own, and His own didn't receive Him.  If you read the entirety of John's gospel,  you will see how that initially even His biological  brothers did not receive Him. They challenged Him and or  rejected Him. They even tried to force His hand to get Him to go to Jerusalem when, as Jesus told them, the time was not right. The scribes, pharisees, sadducees, the High Priest, Pilate and Herod really made life miserable for Him. Eventually they took His life.

The Prophecies!

     Nothing was more painful, for Jesus, than arriving at the place where "His own" were suppose to be waiting and watching for Him to come.  God practically shouted the prophecies to His people regarding Jesus.  It was almost as if God were exclaiming with GREAT force "THE MESSIAH IS COMING!" According www.scriptures.org  there are 353 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled to the point there is no mistaking HE is the one. So God sent all the prophets, and HE ended the prophetic utterances with Jesus own cousin named John.  He is the one we know as John The Baptist. Yet they didn't get it.

What About You?

   Let me ask you, are there people whom you consider your own who have rejected you?  Like Jesus, are there those friends, relatives, associates and or neighbors who caught you by surprise just deciding to keep you out of their lives? These are great questions to ask during this unusual election cycle. Are they not?  Maybe it goes deeper.  Maybe you were verbally abused, emotionally abused, physically abused (Like Jesus was abused on His way to the Cross and on the Cross.) Maybe you were sexually abused. Were you? I'm not asking you to tell anyone, but I am asking you to think about your journey. Well Jesus understands what you are going through.  He understands the shock or numbness that takes you over. He even felt this when He cried out to the Father, "MY GOD! MY GOD! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!" He clearly gets it. He knows the journey of being depressed because of the rejection as , He cried aloud over Jerusalem, with tears in His eyes, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem if you had ONLY known what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes." (Luke 19:42)  He understands how you hurt through no fault of your own.

Jesus Solutions To Relational Pollution

     What did Jesus do about it?  I am glad you asked.  After declaring the utter rejection that Jesus experienced from those who should have loved Him, the Holy Scriptures give us a conjunction that turns all this on a dime.  He says in John 1:12 "BUT."  "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to be children of God, even to those who believe in His name."  Jesus didn't dwell on what He did NOT have in the toxic relationship brought on by toxic people. He did not dwell on how other's bad behaviour impacted Him badly. He gave it and them to God. He had to become a bit like Job: God gave and God Took Away.  Blessed Be God's Name!  He knew without question that His Father was in control. He still is today! He left them with God so that God would work with them. He put them in God's hands. He determined to forgive them, "for they know not what they do." You see forgiveness is as much for the forgiver and the one needing forgiveness. He focused on God's calling upon His life. He focused on those who would come to Him and not on those who ran away from Him.  He focused on anyone and everyone who did the opposite of rejecting Him.  He focused on the ones who would indeed receive Him. He embraced them and let go of the ones who rejected His loving embrace.

I Believe In Miracles

     That's when the miracles began! And people, I believe in miracles! The moment a person received  Jesus,  God's power came upon them! It was no ordinary power with no ordinary relational result.  It was  -and is - a transformational outcome that has caused planet earth to be different ever since that day! Anyone who received Jesus became a God empowered person who was empowered to become God's adopted child. God empowered them to be Children of God! No longer would these new children be in bondage to sin and death! No longer did they have to stumble around in darkness! They received the light that gives life. They became "The City on The Hill!" They became "The salt of the earth!"  They were no longer doomed to roam through the Kingdom of Darkness, for He empowered them to walk in the Kingdom of Light as children of the light. This empowerment to be God's child, with all it's benefits, is available for you and for me today! All I mentioned in this series of miracles mentioned above ... ALL I MENTIONED ... IS YOURS FOR THE ASKING ... if you will let go and let God.  Why not change your focus and receive Jesus into your circumstances?  Why NOT become empowered as a child of God? Why not take the opportunity to allow Jesus to make you into a new creation today?

REMINDER

Remember, dear Christ-Follower, from where you get your identity.  It is not in what you have done.  It is not in what others say about you, feel about you, think about you or do to you.  It is about who you are IN Jesus who is the Christ.  Turn away from fouling up your day focusing on others who have done nothing to indicate you matter. Turn away from believing that it matters to you that you don't matter to them. Determine to choose to forgive them. God may have given them to you, but now He has taken them away from you.  Blessed be the name of the LORD. So, it's best to walk away from them and walk toward Jesus. Forgive them from afar.  Love them from afar. Focus on Jesus and cry out to Jesus to work in you and through you so that you will do His will.  Maybe He will give them back to you??? Maybe Not???  Either way, it is out of your control. This I do  know, God will indeed give you the power to be God's child. He promises that if you come to Him, He will in no way turn away from you. Completely surrender to the Lord, and as the old spiritual says, "Turn it over to Jesus and He will work it out."

SoJourner