When we encounter rejection, we question who we are. If we are rejected by a significant other, we question who we are without them, and what in us caused the rejection. If we are rejected by a potential employer, we question if we should even be doing that type of work. If we are rejected by a college or university, we question what we are meant to do, and what our path in life should be. Rejection hits us right in our existential core.
Even in rejection, God is there. We have a God who knows what rejection feels like, who lived through the ultimate rejection. Rejected by friends, followers, and his people, Jesus was put to death on a cross. But God worked through that cross and brought resurrection to Jesus and to all who follow him.
We will experience rejection, but Jesus is the “stone which the builders rejected” and he “has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11). With Jesus, the God of rejection and resurrection as our foundation, we too are resurrected after rejection. We have hope in Jesus Christ.
This message is excerpted from “What the Bible says about rejection” by Becca Ehrlich in the August 2019 Café online magazine. Today is the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Today we commemorate Timothy, Titus and Silas, missionaries.
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