Rejected!

"Rejected!"  A typical word used during a basketball game, or among friends who are just having harmless fun, or maybe that word is stamped on someone's hurting heart.

Have you ever been rejected by someone you love?  How did it make you feel?
Unworthy.  Betrayed.  Exposed.  Wounded.  Broken.

If you have risked loving, then you have probably experienced rejection.  The deeper we love, the deeper we can be hurt.  Opening our heart also exposes it and allows for harmful substances to enter, like rejection.  So how do we defend it?  Should we keep it closed up to avoid pain like this in the future? 

My heart has been trampled before, and it's so easy to play the pity party game, put the blame on them, or even seek revenge.  There are plenty of songs out there that were written during times of heartache and touch on all three of those emotions.  But what good does that really do? 

Have you ever tried looking up?  Have you thought about the pain and suffering that Jesus Christ endured on the cross as He was rejected by men?  What was His response?  He turned the other cheek, He took it like a man, and He rose again!  Not to get revenge - but to prove that He IS LOVE.  Jesus knew that ultimate rejection was coming, but He didn't preach messages that would be popular or win people's favor.  He spoke the TRUTH.....knowing that it might turn some people away.

One of the strongest desires we have, as humans, is to be loved, accepted, and feel like we belong.  I encourage you to relax in God's love.  He loved us first so that we can love Him and love others - He doesn't expect us to give something away that He hasn't already given us.

In the words of Joyce Meyer, "Let love in and let it out.  You are destined to be a channel for God to flow through, and not a reservoir that merely sits and collects things.  You are special and God has a special plan for you." 

Proverbs 4:23 says "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."  Notice that it doesn't say to close or harden your heart - it says GUARD it - because it is a precious channel that can bring LIFE to the fullest!

And think of that rejection as a blockade that leads you to fully understand and appreciate the value of unconditional, unfailing love.