Rejected - a message focusing on Jesus' rejection in His hometown and our appreciation of Him

What is it about rejection that can hurt so much? Is it the fact that you open up yourself to a cause or commitment? Is it the hope of "making it" in whatever area you are pursuing? Is it the rawness of our feelings being later scraped across asphalt? Is it the feeling of time wasted? There are various reasons.

Rejection is something that can be hard to endure. The greater we flay our hearts and feelings in a matter the greater the damage. We put so much effort into something only to hear some sort of rejection can be damaging.

I remember feeling a sense of rejection after not winning, nor knowing how well I did, in a science fair project. I felt I put a lot of effort into making the project to the best of my ability, but after not winning, I felt rejection. Maybe you've had some sort of rejection in life and know how painful it can be. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Unexpected Outcome ~ There are times which you may say or communicate something and the outcome is not what you expected. When someone is working toward a goal and their goal becomes derailed. This derailment causes the receiver to respond in a different manner in which we intended, it will present a sense of rejection. Have you ever felt like this? What is the feeling you felt?
• Mistaken Identity ~ Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth and taught in the synagogue. He started teaching and the people were "amazed" and started asking about His heritage. At one point, this caused them to not believe in what Jesus was saying and sharing. They were calling him a "carpenter's son." This title was trying to demean His authority. It is interesting that they didn't even think about Jesus being the Son of God! If they would have understood who He was, they might have understood His power. Are we like that at times? Do we know who He is, but do not think and appreciate what He is capable of? Let us not mistake His capabilities on our lives!
• Missed Opportunities ~ The text says that the people missed out on miracles because of their unbelief or lack of faith. I live a lot of life that deals with opportunities as "I'd rather get a 'no' than an 'I don't know.'" I want to kick myself when I think that I may have missed an opportunity for something good. Sometimes we may not know what we miss out on because there was not a hint of it given. However, I would be so mad at making the choice not to "believe" if this was the result - no miracles. I want every ounce of God in my life that I can. May we challenge ourselves to keep our faith high so we do not have any "I don't know" moments when it comes to any God-workings in our life!

Jesus may not have performed many miracles for these people, but He still died for them. Which makes me appreciate some of what He did for us. Even in the times of our unbelief and/or rejecting Him, we were still "died" for. He loves us enough to give himself up for us. He was rejected but He still went on. Do you feel rejected? May we keep going on knowing there is a God that sent His Son and a Son that was willing to die just for you. I hope that gives you some encouragement as you experience any form of rejection in life.

Now it's your turn...what rejection(s) in life have caused you the most grief? How did you bounce back from the setback?