WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE REJECTION: #4 Regain God's Strength

By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford

Scripture: Psalm 73

REVIEW 

During this series, we are talking about a common human experience‑‑that of being rejected.

Perhaps it is as simple as the smirk on the face of a person to whom we are talking. Maybe it is as serious as discrimination on the basis of race or gender. Rejection may be a momentary experience, or an ongoing one. It may take place at home, at school, at church, at work or at play.

What is the Christian approach to being rejected? We have summarized this approach in what we are calling the four R!s: I)Remember our Lord who was himself rejected; 2)Reclaim your call as to what it is God wants you to do regardless of what others do to you; and 3)Refocus on the future into which God is leading you despite any and a stumbling blocks. The fourth and last R to which we give attention on today's program is this: Regain God's strength.

STRENGTH DRIED UP 

In Psalm 32:4, the psalmist talks about his strength being "dried up as by the heat of summer.",

Have you ever experienced having all your inner strength dried up? I have. When I was in the fourth grade our family went on a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas and to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Up till that time we had never had such an extensive vacation. On the trip I acquired some rocks which I thought were especially interesting. One was pure white and looked somewhat like a wad of paper. When I returned to school, my way of letting the class know about our very special vacation was to show my rocks. The home room teacher seemed genuinely interested in them and asked me to tell the class where I got them. We then began passing them around. I was delighted!

When they got about half way up and down the rows, the home room teacher left and a second teacher came to teach another subject. Wanting the new teacher to know about my joy, I raised my hand and told her that the rocks which were being passed were mine, and that I would be glad to pick them up when everybody had seen them. But instead of being impressed, she said with aggravation in her voice: "Never mind the rocks; they'll take care of themselves." It was as if all the life energies I had been enjoying up to that point dried up in a split second. Even as I tell about it some forty‑seven years later, I still feel sick in the pit of my stomach and a little weakened.

No doubt you have had similar experiences when you felt so rejected that it was as though all your strength dried up in seconds. A woman whose husband had left her told about his having supper with the family after the separation. They had a pleasant conversation. An outsider would have thought that they were a happy family. However, following the meal, when he left to go back to his apartment, the feeling of rejection so overwhelmed her again that she felt limp. Her strength was, as the psalmist puts it, "dried up as by the heat of summer."



STRENGTH REGAINED 

When we experience rejection, regardless of what kind it is, and when our strength is "dried up as by the heat of summer," we need to regain a strength that comes fi7om God, don't we?

But how do we go about it? Psalm 73 gives us two clues. Before we identify the clues, I call your attention to the setting. The psalmist decries those who, in arrogant pride, have rejected him.

Verses 6‑8: "Pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loffly they threaten oppression."

It seems to him that such people get away with their destructive arrogance. In verses 16‑17, however, he tells about what he does in order to cope with the hurt which they have inflicted on him. He says: "But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end," While in the presence of God, he prays the following prayer, in verses 25‑28, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fa, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you, But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, to tell of all your works."

FACING THE BASIC ISSUE 

Here are the two clues for us.

The first is this: In his experience of human rejection, the psalmist is thrown back on the most fundamental of all issues, namely, his valuing of God. He had to answer the question as to whether anything or anyone was more important than God. His answer was: "There is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. "

Usually we don't mind being rejected by those whose acceptance we don't want in the first place. For instance, I don't mind being rejected by those who thrive on dirty jokes and foul language because I don't want to enter into that kind of conversation anyway. On the other hand, I very much do want to be accepted by my children, my wife, my church, my colleagues. It is in relation to those whose approval we want that the question of character comes most clearly into focus: Is my desire for their approval so great that I am willing to do anything at all to get it? Is my greatest desire to please earthly persons whose approval I want, or to please God?

Being rejected by those whose approval we want raises the question, "Is my greatest desire to please God?" Too often we do not come face to face with this question until we experience some form of rejection.

Some people, of course, in answer to that question, abandon God, and try to placate those whose earthly approval they want more than they want God. If they fail at getting earthly approval, they may go so far as to commit some form of suicide. It may be physical suicide. It may be professional suicide in that they quit their job and perhaps even end up on skid row. It may be relational suicide in that they give up on living with people and become a recluse. Why do they do this? They do it because there is something on earth they desire more than God. And when they do not get it, they commit suicide.

The psalmist, however, took another path. When in the throes of his plight, he got in touch with that which was really important, and that was his relationship to God. He was able to cry out, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you." It is within that context that he regained God's strength: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." That is the first clue to regaining God's strength: desire God supremely. And the second is this; leave vengeance in God's hands.

LEAVING VENGEANCE IN GOD'S HANDS 

In verse 18, the psalmist says this to God about the arrogant, "Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin." Near the end of the psalm he reiterates this theme. Verse 27 says: "Those who are far from you will perish." The point is that those who are acting contrary to the plan of God will come to nothing.

Let us put it this way: if the rejection we experience is the result of someone's arrogance, God will in God's own good time bring them to judgment. My fhend, if you are being rejected for evil reasons, you can be sure that in the course of time, those who reject you win be brought low. If you suffer demeaning rejection in fan‑ffly relationships, those who perpetrate such evil rejection will, in the course of time, be brought to judgment. Such are the ways of God. While the arrogant may seem to prosper for a time, they are, as verse 18 says, "in slippery places."

You do not have to be revengeful toward those who have unjustly rejected you, for God will take care of the situation. Paul in Romans 12:17‑18 gives us this instruction: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."'

THE DIVINE MIX 

It is that mix of desiring to please God more than we desire anything else, and letting God take care of the vengeance against evil‑‑it is that mix which makes it possible to regain the divine strength which we need for facing the challenges of rejection.

If we will commit ourselves to that divine mix, we will discover the surprise of divine strength. So, my fiend, when you are rejected, turn to God and ask yourself these two questions: First, Do I desire him above all else? Have I come to the point of being able to say with the psalmist: "There is nothing on earth that I desire other than ... [God]"? And, second, Am I willing to leave the vengeance in the hands of God knowing that he will "put an end to those who are false to you"? If you love God supremely and if you are willing to leave vengeance in God's hands, then, you are in the divine position to join in the experience of verse 26: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

PRAYER 

Let us pray:

Gracious God, grant to us that we may love you in ways which supersede our love for any earthly creature. Create within us the trust we need for leaving vengeance in your hands. By the power of your Holy Spirit, strengthen us for the facing of this hour. We pray in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

1. Arew Revised Standard version used here and throughout.

Script 2565 (GWS)
February 25, 1995
SERIES: "WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE REJECTION"
4. Regain God's Strength
Scripture: Psalm 73