They look at you. You can feel the face of rejection glaring at you in the eyes. And you can tell by this piercing, distant, and downcast glance that they have rejected you. Words don’t need to be spoken. You can see it in their eyes.
And it hurts.
Because it’s real.
The look of rejection.
The silence stings as the pain settle deep into the marrow of your soul. Searching for an answer…but no reconcilable response. Was it something you said? Was it something you did? Empty for a slight riposte.
Face Rejection Head-On
Opening up our hearts seems like a recipe for disaster. Intimacy seems far off. We pull back because we are afraid of being vulnerable. We much rather build a barricade wall around our hearts, making it completely impenetrable.
But this isn’t the path to the deep, intimate, & rich relationships for which we all desire. An authentic community requires opening up our hearts. True love comes at a cost. Read 2 Cor. 6:11-7:1. Of course, we desire acceptance from the other side…but ultimately we cannot control the outcome. Like Paul, we must be resolute in abundant affection and a wide-stretched heart, even in the eye of rejection.
Live Like Jesus
How do we get there, you may ask? We seek help from the well within. God no longer dwells in temples made by human hands (Acts 17:24), but rather dwells within our hearts!
For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 2 Cor. 6:16
God has made his home within us. We are His dwelling place. He abides with you. Is staying put. Even when you don’t want Him to. He doesn’t give up on you. Not ever, ever, ever. He continues to walk along your side, pouring His love out on you. And because Jesus loves us with an everlasting, never-relenting kind of love, we can face rejection in the eyes and know that we are deeply loved.
From this well we must draw, taking up the living water.