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Topic: Rejection (11/15/04)
TITLE: Rejected No More By Mark Drinnenberg 11/18/04 |
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Adele’s childhood had been replete with rejection from other children. Their insults had been cruel and frequent. “Adele with the face from hell,” they would cry. “Watch out! Here comes the monster!” She was often hurt, but never embittered - a testimony to the work of God upon her heart. She would learn as she grew that rejection would be a fact of life for her. And, tender heart that she was, she would learn not to respond in kind. She knew from the Scriptures that the insults and rejections were manifestations of the sin that exists in every heart, even her own. She had decided early on to follow the instructions of Jesus to love her enemies and pray for her persecutors.
When Adele was in the third grade, God had provided her with a friend. Jessica had come to Adele’s defense when a group of children had been hurling another round of insults at her. Jessica had never seemed to mind the deformity and, in fact, seemed not to even notice it. They had grown up together and remained friends for life. When they were both twenty-five years old, Jessica had asked Adele to stand with her in her wedding, and it had been a highlight of Adele’s life. Never before had anyone invited her to be part of something so beautiful. Now, on this rainy day, after sixty-three years of friendship, Jessica stood at her dear friend’s graveside, knowing that the insults had finally stopped and that Adele was in the presence of the One who had accepted her as she was and had now made her perfect. She would be rejected no more.
Aside from Jessica, the rest of the few who stood at Adele’s graveside had generally been friendly to her but had kept her at some distance, uncomfortable with the idea of opening their lives to her. Now, as the service ended and they all began to disperse, their thoughts were not about the physical deformity that had led them to keep Adele at a distance. Rather, they thought about her kindness and nobility. They marveled at what a tender heart she had displayed in the face of innumerable rejections. They realized that they had seen the hand of God in the life of a woman whose life had been surrendered to God. And those who had always held a measure of discomfort toward her walked away desiring to be more like her.