THE HURT OF REJECTION

One of the greatest, most encouraging ministries of the Holy Spirit within our lives is that of a Comforter. During my ministry, I have observed that there are five main hurts which people experience in life. The first is the hurt of rejection. Can the Holy Spirit comfort us when we feel rejected? He most certainly can. Sooner or later in this mixed-up world, everyone feels rejected. Indeed, some go through so much rejection, they cease to expect anything else. Rejection often happens in child-hood: the child may have been unwanted by his/her parents, or may have been the wrong sex, or for some reason doesn’t please his/her parents. These feelings of rejection are recorded in our system on a kind of “tape recorder”, and later in life, whenever we feel rejected, we not only experience the present rejection, but in some strange way it triggers the “tape recorder” inside us, and we play back all the feelings of rejection we felt in earlier years. Past feelings of rejection that have never been healed may put a weight on the personality that is too heavy to bear, and this is why, as we say, a person breaks down. People rarely break down because of one event; it is usually the one event that becomes the last straw. Do you have deep feelings of rejection within you that you are carrying from the past? Or have you been rejected in recent days or weeks? Then draw near to God. The Spirit is with you to heal your hurts - right now! [Every Day with Jesus, Selwyn Hughes, 1997-2000].