Rejection at its Finest

She pulled her heart from its crevice and placed it on the table. She unfolded it like a map before him, cringing as blood seeped out here and there. Then she showed him everything -- the memories she cherished and those she buried, the words that killed her and those that revived her, the dreams that sped her heartbeat and those fears that stomped them out. She offered him it all, and he pushed it right back to her. He did not want it.

I don’t like rejection. I don’t think anyone does. Whether I think of the boy that slowly stopped pursuing me or the one that outright said no, rejection hurts. Whether I think of the team I didn’t make or the position I didn’t get, rejection hurts. It hurts to unfold your heart before someone and have them say “no thanks.”

But it was in one of my most vulnerable, aching moments that I realized something about rejection. My God is so, so familiar with rejection. He designed intricate and intelligent creatures, hoping to walk with them as the sun painted golds and soft pinks across the sky, but they rejected him. He picked one nation to be His treasure, to lead them carefully from the claws of a tyrant with the warm glow of fire and the swirling billows of wind, but they rejected him. He left the throne of endless worship, to lift lepers to their feet and unlock every prisoner He would meet and bind up the bruised, but they rejected Him.

My God is familiar with rejection, worse rejection than I’ll ever face. He faces rejection at its finest every time He interacts with the people He created. But yet He doesn't stop.

He pulled His heart from its crevice and placed it on the cross. He unfolded His arms like a map, cringing as blood gushed out here and there and everywhere. Then He showed them everything -- His tender care for them and His relentless pursuit, His frustration about their sin and His willingness to demolish it all, His unquenchable desire to be with them and His radical plan of making it possible. He offered them it all, but so many of them pushed it right back to Him.

So the question is: do YOU want it?