In Rejection’s Wake

You pull away to be alone with God in the sorry state you’re in – half seeking answers (though you know they aren’t on the horizon), but mostly wanting Him.

Uncensored, you pour out your heart. Ask for mercy and the kindness of His assurance. And stamina to endure.

He is the One with the power to effect change. He is the One who knows the truth. He knows how much you can take and how close you are to breaking. And in Him, all things hold together, so that’s where you want to be.

Besides, He’s walked this road.  If anyone knows what it’s like to be completely rejected by those who should claim you as their own, it’s Jesus.

If anyone knows how to minister and speak truth while others envy you, lie about you, watch hoping you’ll fall, and plot behind your back, it’s Jesus.

If anyone knows how to love people who are seeking your harm, it’s Jesus. And now, you worship Him even more, because you have a glimpse at how hard that must have been – how much it cost – in human terms.

Turning to Luke 20, you read His exchanges with the Pharisees. They envied Him and wished He would go away – wanted to make Him go away – but they were afraid of what others thought. They feared the crowds.

He never seems caught off guard. He never appears flustered. And He doesn’t run on their agenda.

He never answers questions that aren’t on His Father’s plan for the day.

In fact, He tells a parable that is clearly judgmental of the religious authorities – without fear. They try to stump Him with questions about Scripture, but He can’t be stumped because He authored the story that they study but hesitate to live. He does not fear the crowd – even though it will be only days before they will cry out for His crucifixion.

And then, at the end of Luke 21, you come upon this gem of a passage: “’But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

(dissipation is like the squandering or frittering away of resources and it’s interesting how squandering resources and the cares of this life are in a trio with drunkenness, as if we can become intoxicated with the worries and distractions of the times and lose sight of eternity)

35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’ 37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.” Luke 21:34-37

He was surrounded by day, but He pulled away from the crowds at night. He separated.

Other gospels say He often took Himself to desolate places to pray. Immerse and withdraw. Immerse and withdraw. Like the rhythm of the tides He designed to remind us that our souls need space or we, too, will live in fear of the crowds.

And without any new answers, you rise from prayer realizing answers weren’t what you needed at all.

What you need is Him, just Jesus. He has walked this path – “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” John 1:11 ESV

Every trial, every hardship, is another opportunity to press into Him and discover that after all, is grace is sufficient for you.

In the wake of rejection https://t.co/9bYL8dZNbr what do you need from God when others shut you out of their lives or plot your destruction? #leadership #Jesus #LeadershipDevelopment

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 2, 2019