The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself. Mark Twain
In the early nineties, I met a beautiful young woman and I fell madly in love with her. I starting pursuing a friendship with her but to no avail. When I proposed to her she said, “em thank you… em… but, let me pray about it.” After that, she disappeared for 7 or 8 weeks. We eventually got married and have been together almost 19 years now. But I will never forget a very unique experience that happened in my pursuit of her.
I waited for her after church one Sunday afternoon, hoping to chat just a little bit with her. I wasn’t asking for much – just a simple – you know – ‘hey, what’s up.’ I felt like she was trying to avoid me when she took another way out of the church and left.
I felt so rejected and snubbed that day. Rejection is very painful. Quite frankly, I thought I was losing my mind that day. As I walked home that Sunday afternoon, I heard something that blew my mind and still does to this day. The audible voice of God. He said it – LOUD AND CLEAR: “Walter, it’s okay – I love you.”
I know that God loves me, but hearing it in that moment when I felt the most rejected brought me to a deeper realization of not only the Father’s love for me but His acceptance of me. The scripture says:
“Christ accepted me, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7
“I am chosen by God himself. 1 peter 2:9 LB
“Even before the foundation of the world, He chose me because of love Ephesians 1:4
And “He made me acceptable to God and treated me much better than I deserve.” Titus 3:7
We all long to be accepted. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who wanted to be rejected. Barely making the team or being cut from it isn’t cool. To be added to the team after choosing all the best players first isn’t cool.
We love to be accepted by our peers, friends, and colleagues. We want to fit in and command the respect of others. Unfortunately, too often we sell our souls, bending behind backward just to feel accepted by others.
- We dress in a certain way
- We go to certain places
- We engage in certain activities
- We drive certain cars
- We preach a certain way
- We starve ourselves
Because we do not want to feel the pain of rejection.
You don’t deserve to live with such an identity crisis.
Save yourself the trouble of waiting for somebody to decide whether you are cool enough, whether it is adequate or suitable enough for you to join the club.
Jesus died for you! That’s cool enough! His arms are wide open, and His voice can be heard, tenderly – “It’s okay, I accept you.” The time has come for you to stop chasing approval and acceptance from others and rest in this free gift of God’s acceptance of you.
Confession:
God, I know that you see me. I know that you chose me. I know that your love for me is unconditional. I know that I am with you and you are with me always. I know I am good enough. So I want to say thank you!
Walter Bright 
Awww Mr Bright! This is so good!!! I have deleted my old blog site (pruningthetwig) forgetting to write down the sites I’ve followed but so glad o remembered your name and so glad you’re still out here preaching the gospel 😊 Blessings sir!
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*to have remembered
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Thank you Walter for sharing and praise the Lord. Amen.
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Praise God!
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Excellent post Walter. We as humans really do try to bend over backwards to fit into that societal norm and be accepted by others.
And it can come in many forms. For me I was 2 years looking for work. A constant rejection day in and day out. And it really does affects one’s self worth.
But the amazing thing is Jesus does accept us, and we are so special in His sight.
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Amen!
Thank you Canuck!
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