Tami's Meandering Thoughts

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship…The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Romans 8:15-17

Rejection. When you think of that word, what comes to mind? Does your mind replay an incident on the elementary school playground? Or perhaps in junior or senior high a friend stabbed you in the back? Even in adulthood, we face rejection from our friends, our co-workers, our spouses, our children.

Rejection. It sounds very juvenile, but on Monday night on the way back from class, as I was thinking about all the different friends I have had, suddenly all the feelings of imagined or real rejection surfaced. Some occurred many years ago, others more recently, but as I thought about it, I suddenly became very fearful. Who is to say that the friends I have now will stay friends? When will I do or say something that will completely annoy them? My children are nearing adolescence; are they going to reject me soon? And what about Tim? We seem very stable and happy, but we all know many spouses who have turned away from their marriage. And then there’s Jesus…when will I do, feel, or say something so bad that he will reject me?

The next morning, as I studied Romans, I read a verse that I have read many times, but its meaning slammed into my lingering fears of rejection. We received a Spirit of sonship. We are God’s children. We are God’s heirs, co-heirs with Christ. Take a moment to actually think about that. That is not rejection. That is amazing acceptance. As long as we believe that Jesus died for our sins (Romans 10:9-10), then we are God’s children. To put it in human terms, although my children may reject me, I will never reject my children. In other words, there will be moments when I say or do something that seem to reject God. However, if I am truly his child, then he will not reject me. Those fears need to be given to God, because as a child of his, I do not need to give in to fear.

I will admit that I didn’t want to write this blog. I didn’t want to open myself up because, as I said, it all sounds so juvenile. However, this morning in my devotions God kept bringing up this topic, and faces of adults that I know who are currently experiencing rejection from spouses, children or family members kept coming to mind. And so I write, not to flaunt my fears of the past week, but to encourage any of you who may be currently dealing with rejection. Rejection is real, whether you are an adolescent or an adult.

Unfortunately, God did not say we would not face rejection. In fact, as an adult Jesus himself faced massive rejection, and the above verse states that we will share in his sufferings. If we stand up for Jesus, a godly lifestyle, or a Christian world-view, chances are we will face rejection by people we love. But not all rejection is due to our Christianity. We also may experience rejection just because we are all human. People change, people argue, people are selfish, people inadvertently say or do the wrong thing. All of these may lead to rejection by people we love.

I don’t have any extremely wise words for when rejection occurs except, be humble. We all make mistakes. Love the other person even if they have misunderstood you or intentionally hurt you, and don’t allow past rejections to cloud your current friendships. Cling to the truth that even though we may face rejection from people, if we are God’s children, then we will not experience rejection from God.