Rejection Hurts!

 

QUOTATION

 

“Many of us will face a prodigal moment in our life, and God tells us if we place our trust in Him, we will overcome the trial and tribulations we will experience during that season of our life”

 

Barry Denzil Haney

 

SCRIPTURE

 

He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

 

Luke 10:16

 

REFLECTION

 

Rejection hurts! Right! During my seventy year journey here on Earth, I have experienced the pain of rejection more times than I want to remember! Worldly wisdom tells us the pain of rejection and physical pain have the same effect on the brain, setting up a cascade of events to thwart it, or as Barney would say on The Andy Griffith Show, “Nip it, Nip it in the Bud”.

 

In his article, “The Neuroscience of Rejection: Why It Hurts And What To Do About It”, Dr. Joel Davies shares this about the similarities between physical pain and the pain of rejection:

 

“Scientists have discovered that even though experiences of physical and social pain seem very different from one another on the surface, the two experiences are actually very similar. As evidence, physical pain and pain from rejection rely on shared neural substrates in the brain (e.g. the dACC and anterior insula), people who are more sensitive to physical pain are also more sensitive to the pain of rejection (and visa versa), and one kind of pain experience can alter the other in a congruent manner.”¹

 

What does Godly wisdom teach us about how to deal with the pain of rejection?

 

Although the word rejection cannot be found in the Gospels, the ideal of rejection is familiar to the Gospel writers. In the four Gospels, the writers show us every facet of Jesus’ life was affected by rejection. In John 7:5, scripture tells us Jesus was rejected by family members:

 

For neither did his brethren believe in him.

John 7:5

 

Jesus faced rejection from His community, His friends, and even from His Father, recorded here in Matthew 27:46-47:

 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

 

Matthew 27:46-47

 

But God offers us hope from the eternal rejection we deserve because of our sin! He offers us redemption, the opposite of rejection, through the work of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary! Because Jesus paid the price for our sins, when He died on the Cross, we have been justified in the sight of God, we have been made righteous because of Christ’s righteousness, holy, because of Christ’s holiness! We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!

 

 

ILLUSTRATION

 

G. Campbell Morgan was one of a hundred and fifty young men who sought entrance into the Wesley in ministry in 1888. He had passed his written exam but faced the test of giving a trial sermon in front of a panel. When the results were released, Morgan’s name was among the hundred and five who were rejected.

 

He wired his father with one word: “Rejected.” Then he sat down and wrote in his diary: “Very dark. Everything seems still. He knoweth best.” The reply to his wire was quick to arrive. It read, “Rejected on earth, accepted in heaven. Dad.”

 

As G. Campbell Morgan went on to prove, rejection on earth is often of little consequence. As his father wisely recognized, rejection on earth is of no consequence in heaven.^2(1121)

 

PRAYER

 

Our Heavenly Father,

 

I have faced rejection so many times in life!

The pain caused by the rejection has sometimes

Been unbearable! But I know when I trust in You

This pain will be eased by Your presence!

 

Today, help me face the onslaught of false truths

I will receive from the secular world! Help me to resist 

Satan’s lies and deceptions, with the full “Armor of God”, 

which gives me Your absolute truths found only in the Bible!

 

We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord 

and Savior, 

 

Amen!

 

SONG OF WORSHIP

 

Pachelbel Canon by David Lanz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8qOuwNMnqM

 

God Bless You,

Barry

 

 

1Thomas, Rick. “Why Do I Keep Doing The Same Sin Over And Over Again?,” n.d. https://rickthomas.net/why-do-i-keep-doing-the-same-sin-over-and-over-again/. 

 

2 Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996. Print.