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Instead, if we accept it and trust God to use it, He will work it out for our good. God has a way of compensating us for our hurts. And as we learn to deal with adversity, our personal character develops. Leah was the mother of half of Jacob's sons, and half of the twelve tribes of Israel descended from her.
Yet she lived with rejection all her life—her father's, her husband's, and her sister's. But God proved His acceptance of her in a language she could understand by giving her six sons and a daughter. Rachel had what Leah longed for, but it didn't make her a better person. We see no evidence of contentment or gratitude in Rachel's life. And there is no reason to believe that she had a relationship with the Lord comparable to Leah's.
Apparently, the pain of rejection caused Leah to turn to the Lord, and in doing so, she found her contentment in Him. In the long term, God had the greatest blessing of all in store for Leah, even though she didn't live to see it. God chose Judah, Leah's son, to be the father of the royal dynasty through which His Messiah would be born: Christ, the Son of David, Lion of the tribe of Judah. And, like His grandmother generations before Him, Jesus was rejected too. And we esteemed him not" Isa.
There was no sin, no personality or character flaw in Him that caused Him to be rejected. Yet He suffered undeserved rejection all His life.
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Jesus was rejected by His peers, by His half-brothers, by His nation, by the Gentiles, by the world He had created. In the hour of His agony He was betrayed by one friend, denied by another, and abandoned by all of His disciples. He experienced loneliness, suffering, grief, and rejection. Why did Jesus endure such agony?
He bore our sins on the cross and took our punishment so that we might be forgiven. But in so doing He endured a rejection we will never know. He even felt rejected by God, His Father. Remember His cry from the cross, "My God!
Why have you forsaken me? When Jesus became man, He bore the full penalty for our sin, which is separation from God: In the New Testament, we learn more about Jesus' rejection: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" John 1: When you trust Christ as your Savior, you are born into God's family.
God accepts you as His beloved child. He loves you with a love that will never waver, falter, or end.
He may have brought the very best that he had, but he did so with entirely the wrong attitude. So glorify God in your body. But the wounds of this rejection gave us a hymn that has comforted countless thousands of God's children. Sometimes we make ourselves unhappy by envisioning changes that aren't going to take place. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled:
And as you grow in your new life, your great High Priest Jesus intercedes for you with God. Here's the kind of priest He is:. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" Heb. Jesus knows how rejection makes us feel.
He has been there. He will comfort us, give us value, and use our pain to help others. But to appropriate these gifts, we have to make the kinds of decisions Leah did. We have to give up our expectations and focus on God, praising and thanking Him for who He is and for the blessings He showers on us. If we do that, rejection will not be a hindrance to our spiritual growth. It will become a catalyst. George Matheson was a brilliant young man who was engaged to a woman he loved very much. Like Leah, he was troubled by weak eyes and was told that he would soon be totally blind.
But the wounds of this rejection gave us a hymn that has comforted countless thousands of God's children. The words trace for us the journey we must all take:. O Love that wilt not let me go. I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. O Joy that seekest me through pain I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain And feel the promise is not vain That morn shall tearless be. O Cross that liftest up my head I dare not ask to fly from thee; I lay in dust, life's glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be.
Handing Off the Baton 2 Timothy 4: Walking the Romans Road. Facing Winter Seasons 2 Timothy 4: Frazier had said as they parted. Did you feel rejected because your father was distant and cold, too busy to give you time and attention?
Did you feel rejected because your mother favored your older sister who was prettier or smarter? Did you feel rejected because you weren't gifted in athletics and when the class divided up into teams, you were the last one chosen? Did you feel rejected because your school clothes were not as nice as the other kids' and they made fun of you? Were you plain looking? Did you have acne? Did you have to wear thick glasses?
Were you rejected during your high school years because you weren't popular; did you miss your prom because no one invited you? Were you rejected for membership in a sorority you wanted to join in college? Were you passed over for promotion at work because someone else was younger or prettier? Did you lose your job because you were getting older?
Did you date a man for several years, expecting to marry him, only to have him back out? Do you feel rejected by your children, after giving your life to raise them and to provide for them the benefits you didn't have?
Did your husband leave you in midlife for another woman—or worse yet, another man? Unwanted, Unloved Can you imagine how Leah must have cringed when Jacob looked at her in the morning light with shock, distaste, and anger? Face the Facts Realistically Leah knew she wasn't loved. Her spiritual growth is reflected in the names she gave her children: Don't Pretend; Confess Your Feelings To accept the way things are and to admit you would like them to be different are two different matters. Give Up Unrealistic Expectations Sometimes we make ourselves unhappy by envisioning changes that aren't going to take place.
In the Bible, light is used symbolically in two main ways: Paul says 1 Tim. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth , trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Second, light refers to the spiritual illumination or understanding that we get when we are born again, whereas darkness refers to our natural spiritual blindness before we are saved 2 Cor.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…. John has told us 1: Carson explains John 1: It shines on every man, and divides the race: But some receive this revelation 1: He is telling us rather how the process works.
Men choose the darkness and their condemnation lies in that very fact…. They refuse to be shaken out of their comfortable sinfulness. As we saw in 3: Have you ever been in the presence of a very godly man, so that his very presence made you uncomfortable? Sproul The Holiness of God [Tyndale], pp.
He had played with Nicklaus before, but he was in awe of playing with President Ford and Billy Graham. His friend followed the angry pro and watched him take out his driver and beat ball after ball in fury. The friend said nothing, but just sat on a bench and watched. After a few minutes, the pro had calmed down. I just had a bad round. How much more would we all have felt condemned to be in the presence of Jesus Christ! Have you had that experience with Jesus Christ?
First, John presents the negative reaction:. First, sin is far deeper than outward deeds; sin is a matter of our affections or desires. Loved indicates that this was not a cool, rational decision: We love darkness rather than light.
This leads to a second significant truth about sin: Our sin problem is far deeper than we ever imagined. The Bible does not teach that we are basically good people who need to overcome a few flaws in our character. All of these approaches to sin are too superficial from a biblical standpoint. This phrase also shows us a third truth about sin: The reason that people reject Christ is not primarily intellectual, but moral.
Unbelievers do not love darkness rather than light because they have thought it through carefully and concluded that darkness makes more sense. No, unbelievers love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
The light exposes their evil deeds and convicts them of their true moral guilt before the holy God. But, frankly, they like sinning! Aldous Huxley, the famous atheist of the last century, once admitted that his rejection of Christianity stemmed from his desire to sin. He wrote Ends and Means [Garland Publishers], pp. I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had not; and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption.
The philosopher who finds no meaning for this world is not concerned exclusively with the problem of pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to…. For myself … the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political.
If you want to receive Jesus now, and accept His gift of salvation, it's a matter of believing in Jesus Christ, repenting of your sins, and turning the rest of your life over to Him. This is not a ritual based on specific words, but rather, a prayerful guideline for your sincere step of faith. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. If you decided to become a Christian today, welcome to God's family. Now, as a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment. Get baptized as commanded by Christ. Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible. Seek fellowship with other Christians.