“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never
loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
-1 Cor 13:4-7 NLT
Have you ever been rejected? I think all of us have experienced
rejection at some point in our lives. If you’re an actor or musician,
you might experience much more rejection than the rest of us. But most
people who experience a lot of success in any field have experienced
much rejection. That’s what makes their success more rare than the
average person - they worked hard and endured more rejection than most
of us are willing to tolerate.
The story of Hosea and Gomer is an unusual one. God instructs Hosea
the prophet to chose a prostitute and marry her - and continue to be
faithful even though she continued to be unfaithful. (Hosea 1:3) He did
this as a symbol of the nation of Israel at that time who had been
unfaithful to their true God, rejecting Him, His love, and His decrees.
Jesus also did something that we never deserved - He died on a cross for
our sins - in spite of the fact that the people during that time
persecuted Him and put Him on the cross. He loved them (and us) in spite
of their (and our) complete rejection of His love.
Every day, we have the choice to reject as the world rejects, or
love and accept as Jesus has loved us. If we are really seeking our
calling we will likely experience a lot of rejection, but the benefits
to fulfilling our calling will far outweigh the rejection and opinions
of man. It is essential that we keep our hearts pure and seek God
first, so that we know our affirmation and worth comes from Him and
those He has put in our lives to confirm His plans for us.
Jesus calls us to love in spite of rejection. Even when life gives
us hard blows, we are still to love and accept, let go and protect. Are
you able to love in spite of rejection today?
"Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute." -Judges 11:1
There is an incredible story in the Bible about a very unlikely leader.
Jephthah
was a man who was the illegitimate son of his father Gilead. His
brothers drove him away and said to Jephthah, “You are not going to get
any inheritance in our family, because you are the son of another
woman.”
Rejected and humiliated, Jephthah fled from his family to a place called Tob.
During
this time, Israel has been unfaithful to God, worshipping other idols.
At this the Lord became angry, and he sold them to their enemies the
Philistines and the Ammonites. (10:7) However, after 18 years of
oppression, the Israelites cried out to God to save them, got rid of
their idols and repented. Judges 10:16 says, "And (God) could bear
Israel’s misery no longer."
Eventually, the Ammonites were engaged in a war against Israel. The
elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander.
Initially
he asked them why they were coming to him after they he had been
exiled. But because they insisted, and offered him full rulership of
Gilead, he accepted the challenge (11:8). God gave their enemies over
to Jephthah, and he won the war. "Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands." (11:32)
Have you ever felt like you were the unlucky one, like God couldn't use you due to things that have happened in your life? Know that He is preparing a way for you - in spite of
your circumstances - to turn rejection into purpose, hardship into hope, and disgrace into
His glory.
