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.
Being a Jesus follower means dealing with rejection, as Jesus did. But it also means that Jesus and God’s grace are with us amid that rejection. God knows what rejection is like and can help us through it.
This message is excerpted from “What the Bible says about rejection” by Becca Ehrlich in the August 2019 Café online magazine. Today we commemorate Lawrence, deacon, martyr, 258.
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