The young boy ran out the front door to join his friends. Minutes later he was back home. “Weren’t you meeting your friends at the ball field?” his Mom asked. “They didn’t choose me to play on either one of their teams,” the boy said. “Nobody likes me.”
Disappointments like this may seem trivial, but they’re not. They have the power to shape our lives for many years. Rejection can be a powerful motivator. One of the greatest needs people have is to belong. We all want to know that we matter to someone.
How we choose to meet this need is critical to our relationship with God. The greatest amount of acceptance you could ever want is found in Jesus. No matter who has rejected you, God promises to love and accept you when you trust Him. Check out this promise found in John 1:12. “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” What could be greater than belonging to God’s forever family!
Anyone who believes in the name of Jesus is given full authority to claim the title of God’s child. But believing in the name of Jesus involves more than just head knowledge – it’s fully trusting in Him to do what he promises to do. For example, you can stand next to a chair and say you believe it will hold you up if you were to sit in it. But it’s not holding you up until you actually do sit in it. Now imagine you trust in the chair enough to actually sit down in it. That’s the kind of believing the Bible is talking about!
Are you struggling with rejection - finding a place to belong? Maybe it’s because you’re not letting Jesus ‘hold you up.’ It’s one thing to say that you believe in Jesus, but it’s totally different when you put your trust and confidence in Him for all your todays and tomorrows.
If you haven’t done it already, why not put your trust and confidence in Jesus. Start experiencing the sense of belonging only He can give you. And remember – no matter what - he’ll always choose you to be on His team!
