The Sting of Rejection

He [Jesus] had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3 NIV

Nothing hurts worse in this life than being rejected. Rejection is the ultimate 'put down' whether you're the one doing the rejecting, or the one being rejected. Rejection makes you feel unloved, unwanted, unappreciated, inferior, inadequate, worthless. Rejection can cause some people to become suicidal. Rejection hurts like a sucker punch to the stomach. And no matter how long ago it happened, the sting of rejection can linger for months, even years.

Rejection sticks out like a sore thumb. We see it on the faces of desperate people who spend their life on the streets. We see it in the self-destructing behavior of people who abuse harmful substances that they know can kill them. We see it in the actions of people who engage in criminal and other anti-social behavior without remorse. 

Rejection can take many forms— like being rejected in the womb, rejected at birth, rejected by family or friends, rejected for a job, rejected because of your race, religion, or physical appearance. The list of ways to be rejected is endless. Maybe you have been rejected at some point in your life, and it turned your world upside down. Maybe it’s been years, and you’re still struggling to get back on your feet. The promises you made to yourself to turn your life around haven’t been kept.

You are not alone. Jesus was the most rejected man in the history of the world. The Bible says that "He [Jesus] was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." Sound like you? 

Being rejected didn't stop Jesus from fulfilling his purpose in life which was to die for the sins of the world. Christ's ultimate victory over rejection means that anyone who faces rejection —past, present or future—can look to Jesus Christ for healing and acceptance. 

It doesn't mean that you'll never face rejection in some form ever again; but if and when you do you'll be stronger, better able to handle it with Christ in your corner. Those persons who rejected you may never change their attitude, but you can change. When you know who you are in Christ, you can forgive those who rejected you and move on. Today is the day you throw off the chains of bondage that have held you a prisoner of rejection. Declare your freedom now with this simple prayer—

Dear Jesus, thank you for not rejecting me. Thank you for loving me and dying for my sins. I need you in my life. I am so sorry for the way I've lived and the things I've done. Please forgive me and help me to live the way you want me to. I put my life in your hands. Thank you God for forgiving me and giving me the gift of eternal life in Heaven when I die. 

To learn more about what awaits you as a new believer in Jesus Christ, go to peacewithgod.net  Friends are waiting online to help you. Need prayer? They can help there too.

How Jesus' resurrection takes the fear out of dying

Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into life eternal.— Dr Martin Luther King Jr

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Several years ago, I was talking with a friend, and just happened to mention that a famous Broadway producer we met on a cruise had died. My friend looked straight at me and said, "I'm ready." I didn't realize what she meant until a few days later when I received a call that my friend had died. As shocking as the news was, I took comfort in the fact that she didn't fear death. You might say she looked forward to it because she was a Christian.

Christians die like everybody else, and often from all the bad things in this world that kill everybody else. The difference is when Christians die, they know they won't stay dead forever. According to Christian belief, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will never really die. This truth is rooted in God's unshakable promise of eternal life to anyone who accepts his Christ.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

I haven't faced the moment of death personally, but I have been present when others have. You can tell a lot about a person by how they face the moment of death. Their last words, the look on their face say a lot about the kind of life they lived. For instance, some people curse God as they are dying, others make last-minute pleas for forgiveness, which God does honor.

And then, there are the true Christians. You can tell by the radiant look on their faces, as they lay dying, that they must see heaven open up and angels descending to take them home. When my mother died from MS at age 83, she had that look. I was happy for her, and I admit a little envious because I knew without a doubt she was heading for a place where she'd be more alive than she'd ever been in life. For the believer in Christ, death is the fulfillment of this scripture:

And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 TLB

Easter marks a sacred time on the Christian calendar because it symbolizes Christ's victory over death, and by association, the victory of every believing Christian. Essentially, that's what Jesus' resurrection means in a world of believers and non-believers. Refusing to believe doesn't change or negate the reality of what Jesus accomplished. The scriptures tell his story:

Jesus died a physical death on the cross and was raised by God's spirit from the dead. Christ's resurrection is evidenced by the empty tomb in Jerusalem, by the written testimony of his disciples in the Gospels, and by the more than 500 sightings of others who encountered Jesus after his resurrection prior to his ascension into heaven.

What Jesus did made death merely an event, not a dead end. Christ's resurrection took the sting out of death. No wonder Christians don't view death in the same way others do. Christians see death as a home-going. Christian songwriters write songs like Soon and Very Soon, I'm Going Away and I Can Only Imagine that celebrate the certainty of an afterlife. Christians know that one day they will see this Jesus, who died not only for their sins, but also for the sins of everyone. No one needs to hold onto a fear of death because Jesus is alive.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 NLT

This article is dedicated to the family and friends of the 150 people who died tragically in the Germanwings airliner crash (March, 2015).