At the end of John chapter 8 and the beginning of 9 we read that as Jesus left the temple where people were getting ready to stone him He passed by a blind man. Clearly Jesus knew all about rejection. The blind man was one of those rejected and avoided by others. Each day he sat alone at the street corner waiting on the kindness of others to provide for his basic needs. At the beginning of his encounter with Jesus the blind man could even hear the disciples asking each other about whether he had sinned. Maybe he put his head down in shame giving up on any expectation of help until he heard Jesus give him a word of hope.

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”  John 9:3

Facing rejection well is all about where we plan to park our hope. If we are just hoping that others will accept us or help us out we will find our car parked in the long-term parking lot of despair. The daily parking rate there is so high that after a while you might just feel like abandoning your vehicle! But God has better plans. God sees us not just as a hopeless victim but as an opportunity for Him to love.

But experiencing the love, acceptance and healing of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we won’t face more rejection. Through the day after Jesus had healed him this blind man was doubted by his friends, thrown under the bus by his parents and excommunicated by the religious leaders. Now that’s a bad day! The good news came, not when everyone  began to love and appreciate him, but rather when after he was thrown out; he met Jesus waiting at the door. Jesus is waiting outside our doors also. He knows what we are facing and at our lowest moments he comes. If you are experiencing hard and bitter rejection don’t even begin to lose hope today. Our lives are not in our own hands nor will our future be determined by others. God is waiting just outside our doorstep and is offering us blessing and acceptance in His eternal arms!